Living at Los Angeles, I missed an opportunity of see Danny Glover, probably most famous as being the co-star of the Lethal Weapon series and one of the leads of Steven Spielberg's THE COLOR PURPLE, I stayed to see what I thought to be a most intriguing documentary of eye witness accounts of Hurricane Katrina.
The day of this writing, August 29, 2008, another hurricane called Gustav threatens New Orleans again. This documentary won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance earlier this year. Interspersed with news programs, cars leaving the city and President Bush promising not to worry, help is on the way for all those in need, this shows a family being stranded right before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. For this family, there was not only not any help being on the way, photographic evidence that the government imposed obstacles to survivors who were too poor to evacuate.
However, the general tone of this movie is that of a personal will of survival. That tone is set by Katherine Roberts, then aspiring rap artist, who shot the footage of being trapped, the danger being very well. Images shot just prior to the storm include an alcoholic uncle who will perish. The streets become rivers and the house just below them submerged. It shows a strong neighbor Frank swimming in the water helping the women and children. It should be noted that most of the documentary subjects are African American.
Two weeks later, Katherine and her husband run into documentarians Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. With their help, the Roberts visually retell how they found a boat, loaded up grandma and the kids and were able to escape the very much underwater neighborhood. They recount how hundreds, actually thousands, were turned away from a near empty naval base. Turned away with the use of M-16 rifles.
It must be noted Lessin and Deal initially planned to shoot a documentary of the Louisiana Brigade going to Iraq. After the hurricane happened, instead of helping in their own state, the brigade were shipped off to Iraq.
The journey continues with the Roberts. They're able to get a truck and go up for refuge in South Memphis. They are amazed how a black community can be kept up and actually be in good neighborhoods partly due to the tourist trade Memphis gets. Speaking of the tourist trade, the French Quarter and Downtown where most of the tourists go are fixed right away. Almost comically to see a tourist commercial with the eighty per cent that still laid in ruins.
The Roberts have trouble getting FEMA relief. By the way, a great version of John Lee Hooker's "Money" is played to a series of unsmiling faces.
Katherine shows her chops as well. One of her hip hop songs is called "Amazing". The refrain roughly goes like this: "I don't need anyone else to tell me I'm amazing." Able to smile while endearing personal and financial loss was quite inspiring to see.
Maybe I'm a black man trapped by a white man's body. Actually, I believe what affects one group affects us all. And I didn't need Danny Glover to enjoy this film. I do admit that it would have been more fun.
The day of this writing, August 29, 2008, another hurricane called Gustav threatens New Orleans again. This documentary won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance earlier this year. Interspersed with news programs, cars leaving the city and President Bush promising not to worry, help is on the way for all those in need, this shows a family being stranded right before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. For this family, there was not only not any help being on the way, photographic evidence that the government imposed obstacles to survivors who were too poor to evacuate.
However, the general tone of this movie is that of a personal will of survival. That tone is set by Katherine Roberts, then aspiring rap artist, who shot the footage of being trapped, the danger being very well. Images shot just prior to the storm include an alcoholic uncle who will perish. The streets become rivers and the house just below them submerged. It shows a strong neighbor Frank swimming in the water helping the women and children. It should be noted that most of the documentary subjects are African American.
Two weeks later, Katherine and her husband run into documentarians Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. With their help, the Roberts visually retell how they found a boat, loaded up grandma and the kids and were able to escape the very much underwater neighborhood. They recount how hundreds, actually thousands, were turned away from a near empty naval base. Turned away with the use of M-16 rifles.
It must be noted Lessin and Deal initially planned to shoot a documentary of the Louisiana Brigade going to Iraq. After the hurricane happened, instead of helping in their own state, the brigade were shipped off to Iraq.
The journey continues with the Roberts. They're able to get a truck and go up for refuge in South Memphis. They are amazed how a black community can be kept up and actually be in good neighborhoods partly due to the tourist trade Memphis gets. Speaking of the tourist trade, the French Quarter and Downtown where most of the tourists go are fixed right away. Almost comically to see a tourist commercial with the eighty per cent that still laid in ruins.
The Roberts have trouble getting FEMA relief. By the way, a great version of John Lee Hooker's "Money" is played to a series of unsmiling faces.
Katherine shows her chops as well. One of her hip hop songs is called "Amazing". The refrain roughly goes like this: "I don't need anyone else to tell me I'm amazing." Able to smile while endearing personal and financial loss was quite inspiring to see.
Maybe I'm a black man trapped by a white man's body. Actually, I believe what affects one group affects us all. And I didn't need Danny Glover to enjoy this film. I do admit that it would have been more fun.