Posted on 08/29/2006 5:12:36 PM PDT by SJackson
No one does righteous anger like Spike Lee.
If there's one thing that marks the director's work, it's that sense that something is about to pop, no matter the topic. Then, all you can do is sit back and ponder the question of "How did it come to that?"
That's why Lee was the perfect choice to create HBO's monumental documentary, "When the Levees Broke," which airs again tonight. Today marks the official anniversary of when those levees broke in New Orleans, creating a disaster never before seen in this country.
In Lee's hands, "When the Levees Broke" doesn't seem like an anniversary tale, revisiting something that happened. If anything, the film shows that this is a continuing story that is not going to end any time soon.
Associated Press/HBO Phyllis Montana LeBlanc: "It was like that film with Daryl Hannah from a long time ago: the 50-foot woman or whatever the hell she was. That was Katrina. She was pulling all the s--- apart."
Associated Press Barbara Bush at the Astrodome: "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. ... Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them." Of course, at four hours, it takes a while for the documentary to end. On the one hand, that seems indulgent. Yet, but for a scene or two, I can't imagine what could have been trimmed.
This isn't Lee getting all preachy; in fact, he's barely in it. This is an impassioned storyteller letting those who lived through this re-create what happened and describe their lives.
And what a tale they tell.
There's Phyllis Montana LeBlanc, whose anger, frustration, defiance, melancholy and humor so beautifully illustrate the roller-coaster ride these people have been riding. She's brave enough to issue a challenge to a rude soldier, tee off on a 911 operator and look directly into the camera and offer her phone number to Barbara Bush to discuss the former first lady's notion that the people who were evacuated were probably better off in the Houston Astrodome than in their own homes.
LeBlanc also gives one of the more colorful descriptions of the storm ever recorded:
"It was like that film with Daryl Hannah from a long time ago: the 50-foot woman or whatever the hell she was. That was Katrina. She was pulling all the s--- apart."
Lee could have made the documentary solely on this woman and it might have been complete. Yet there are so many more stories to tell.
There's Herbert Freeman Jr., who had to make the choice of staying with his dead mother and never getting rescued or getting on a bus and leaving her behind. In his own kind of "Sophie's Choice," he put a note on his mother's body and left her behind in a scene that became an iconic photograph.
There's Kimberly Polk, who had to wait through nine months of bureaucracy and false identifications to claim the body of her 5-year-old daughter Sarena.
And there's Lee's longtime musical collaborator, jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard. Lee and his crew follow Blanchard and his mother into the family home for the first time months after the flood. If this doesn't break your heart, you haven't got one.
The reporter in me is in awe of how Lee can get people to tell these stories so well, to revisit so much pain. Admittedly, they likely are itching to have these stories told, but it's clear they trust the director to do right by them. That's also what made Lee's 1997 documentary about the 1963 Birmingham church bombing, "4 Little Girls," so breathtaking.
"When the Levees Broke" is subtitled "A Requiem in Four Acts." It's not particularly clear what the acts signify, or what particular narrative Lee seeks. That's not really a problem; this isn't a story with an easy beginning, middle or end.
Beyond the human stories, Lee gives plenty of historical perspective and gets into the ways this was a disaster waiting to happen. Once you see images of the levees in New Orleans compared with the system that has protected the Netherlands since the 1950s, any excuse of "who could have seen this coming?" goes right down the drain.
This isn't a happy tale; redemption isn't just around the corner. Yet there is warmth and dark humor at times; when one family musters the courage to tell their mother that her house floated across the street and into the neighbor's yard, the woman responds that "at least he can't say I never gave him anything."
Lee finds the perfect tone in telling this as a New Orleans story without making it a cliche; Lee's whole film is a jazz funeral that echoes grief and joy in the faith that Lord, things are better on the other side. Blanchard's score accentuates that without overpowering it. The use of still photographs seems more powerful than familiar video would have been.
Yet it's a story that hurts not just because it's New Orleans. It's a story about a place that people love because they were born and raised there like their ancestors were born and raised there. To lose that would carve a hole in one's soul if they lived in New Orleans or New Glarus.
"I wanted to make the definitive account of this fiasco, this travesty, this mockery that happened in New Orleans," Lee said in an HBO interview.
Lee might not be preachy, but I will be. Not everyone can see this on HBO tonight, but it will eventually end up on DVD. To appropriate Lee, who appropriated Malcolm X, take the four hours to see this film - by any means necessary.
"When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" is on HBO tonight at 7.
What would Mozart say?
Spike Lee is an overrated, egotistical racist.
I happened to watch about 10 minutes of this the other night. For some strange reason I kind of like Spike Lee movies. What I saw of this, however, was akin to a Michael Moore Bush-bashing hit piece. I turned it off before I became sick on my shoes.
I dont get HBO, Now I am glad I dont. Spikelee isnt a film maker he is a propagandist for racism.
Spike Lee = Shelton Jackson Lee
I got banned from the DU (after 1 post)..yea, I know, but their BS makes me sick and I thought I'd fight back..for replyin to a thread much like this one..all I did was quote Frederick Douglas, perhaps the greatest black man this country has produced, and his statement that there will be colored men who will use race as a way to make a livin, once they find they can do so..
by the way, I wear my bannin as a badge of honor..:-)
Bush's Fault.
Spike Lee... Mo' Betta Bush bashin'.
Spike the Puke Lee is a bigot. Racism is his stock in trade. He does not do legitimate work. What a joke.
Frederick Douglas wasn't a progressive.
"Spike Lee is an overrated, egotistical racist."
Of course he is, that is why he is promoted as the artist from the community of color.
M. Brown agreed (after Rice and other declined) to tell his story for the film when Spike Lee called. Thirty days later an assistant calls and said we ran out of money so we don't need your interview. I guess Mr. Lee twisted it well.
Yet another reason why I refuse to have cable/satellite.
Spike Lee is not necessarily a bigot, he is just someone making money the “old fashion way”, using the race card. It is all about the “money”.
One year later, It seems the refugees agree with Barbara Bush.
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