When the Levees Broke Review
Spike Lee's meandering opus When the Levees Broke is a good documentary, but at the same time is a sad failure as a record of what happened in New Orleans during and after Katrina.
For those of us who were affected by the storm and know the geography of the city, there are many faces and stories that are not represented while watching the documentary. The sad part from people's reactions I have read is that most seem to think this is a great work which truly shows and represents what happened.
Watching When the Levees Broke might make you think the only people in the city of New Orleans were black and white. No Asians. No Hispanics. No one of any other race. And, the whites who are shown, for the most part, are upper class and seem to have not been affected that bad by the storm. One would also not realize there were any doctors or nurses in the area.
Lee disappoints because he knows better and he should know the makeup of the city after all the time he spent here after the storm making his documentary. He had only to ask what little local crew he used to find out the deeper story.
The other sad part of the documentary are the rumors left out in the open. The greatest of course is the idea that the levees were blown up. Does this means all the levees were blown up? Was just the 9th Ward targeted? Was the 17th Street Canal blown? The only evidence given is that people heard three loud bangs. Never mind the large barge which crashed through the levee, surely that could not have been the sound.
There is also a reference that the Coast Guard did not stop to help black people and was headed on its way to help the whites. Yet it was the Coast Guard and Navy helicopter pilots who were the first to start helping, even defying orders at times to keep saving lives.
There is also the story of the police on the bridge. It is said it was Jefferson Parish "police" who were on the bridge. The thing is we already know it was Gretna city police and not Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputies on the bridge, yet this is never clarified.
Lee also includes interviews with a couple of victims from St. Bernard Parish and from the Coast. These diversions take away from the story he is trying to tell. The coast and the other parishes should be told separately since each suffered damage for different reasons.
And, instead of those stories, Lee should have included more interviews from Lakeview area. He has no problem showing the break at the 17th Street Canal repeatedly, but he only includes an interview with one person from Lakeview whereas there are several from the Ninth Ward. People in Lakeview suffered just as much as those in the Ninth Ward and now they are fighting to get fair value for their homes the government is trying to pay them a pittance for.
The main problem though I see for those who enjoy it and think this is the end-all, be-all of Katrina documentaries is that they didn't live it. Not living through it, not sitting around watching your city be destroyed and worrying over your loved ones and seeing how little the government cares for your fellow citizens, they can never truly appreciate how great a let down it is for a lot of us to watch Lee drop the ball and not tell the whole story.
I hope no one ever has to know those feelings and go through what New Orleans and the Gulf Coast did.
For those of us who were affected by the storm and know the geography of the city, there are many faces and stories that are not represented while watching the documentary. The sad part from people's reactions I have read is that most seem to think this is a great work which truly shows and represents what happened.
Watching When the Levees Broke might make you think the only people in the city of New Orleans were black and white. No Asians. No Hispanics. No one of any other race. And, the whites who are shown, for the most part, are upper class and seem to have not been affected that bad by the storm. One would also not realize there were any doctors or nurses in the area.
Lee disappoints because he knows better and he should know the makeup of the city after all the time he spent here after the storm making his documentary. He had only to ask what little local crew he used to find out the deeper story.
The other sad part of the documentary are the rumors left out in the open. The greatest of course is the idea that the levees were blown up. Does this means all the levees were blown up? Was just the 9th Ward targeted? Was the 17th Street Canal blown? The only evidence given is that people heard three loud bangs. Never mind the large barge which crashed through the levee, surely that could not have been the sound.
There is also a reference that the Coast Guard did not stop to help black people and was headed on its way to help the whites. Yet it was the Coast Guard and Navy helicopter pilots who were the first to start helping, even defying orders at times to keep saving lives.
There is also the story of the police on the bridge. It is said it was Jefferson Parish "police" who were on the bridge. The thing is we already know it was Gretna city police and not Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputies on the bridge, yet this is never clarified.
Lee also includes interviews with a couple of victims from St. Bernard Parish and from the Coast. These diversions take away from the story he is trying to tell. The coast and the other parishes should be told separately since each suffered damage for different reasons.
And, instead of those stories, Lee should have included more interviews from Lakeview area. He has no problem showing the break at the 17th Street Canal repeatedly, but he only includes an interview with one person from Lakeview whereas there are several from the Ninth Ward. People in Lakeview suffered just as much as those in the Ninth Ward and now they are fighting to get fair value for their homes the government is trying to pay them a pittance for.
The main problem though I see for those who enjoy it and think this is the end-all, be-all of Katrina documentaries is that they didn't live it. Not living through it, not sitting around watching your city be destroyed and worrying over your loved ones and seeing how little the government cares for your fellow citizens, they can never truly appreciate how great a let down it is for a lot of us to watch Lee drop the ball and not tell the whole story.
I hope no one ever has to know those feelings and go through what New Orleans and the Gulf Coast did.
Labels: Movies
posted by Unknown at 11:31 AM
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