Aug. 17th, 2006

infrogmation: (Default)
I saw the primeer of "When the Levees Broke" (thanks, [livejournal.com profile] entheos93!). Whoa, good stuff.

This is a documentary by Spike Lee which will show on HBO starting Monday. It was shown at the New Orleans Arena. Although advertising proclaimed it was sold out, the stadium was only half full-- I'm not sure how the free tickets were distributed, and I know some folks are still nervous about going to the Arena, part of the Superdome complex, what with bad Katrina juju or such.

The prez of HBO made a short introduction, then Spike Lee made an even shorter one (a couple sentences along the lines of "New Orleans is in the house! Here's the film!"), then all 4 one hour segments were shown back to back with no break.

I was quite favorably impressed. I have to agree with Lee's comment " "If you say this [the film] only pertains to black people you must have been sleeping for four hours." in response to Dave Walker's review for the the Times-Picayune -- it makes me wonder if Walker saw a very different cut of the film or was paying attention to something else.

Lee intersperces news footage and still photos of Katrina & aftermath with interviews with such figures as Garlan Robinette, Ray Nagin, Marc Morial, Mitch Landrieu, Ivor van Heerden, various historians & engineers, and people from the greater New Orleans area giving first hand accounts of Katrina, the levee failures, and the long aftermath.

Lee only pushes his politics at a couple brief points. His main goal seems to have been making a good documentary and following whatever his interview subjects thought important to discuss.

I was very impressed with how much he gets right, showing an understanding of New Orleans culture I found surprising for someone not from here.

The audience was very appreciative, laughing and cheering at times. However many people left after the first two hours, and more drifted out after. It was VERY cold in the over airconditioned Arena, and most people were dressed for summer.

Grade: A-

August 2025

S M T W T F S
     12
34 56 789
1011 1213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Aug. 19th, 2025 10:24 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios