When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006) DVD / A Spike Lee Film; an HBO Original Documentary Films Event

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♫ If it keeps on raining levee's going to break
. .When the levee breaks have no place to stay ♪
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The title "When The Levees Broke" references a song popularized by Led Zeppelin but first recorded by Delta Blues tandem Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy. The original dates back to the depression and is an ode to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 in which thousands of Mississippi Delta residents lost their homes and livelihoods, many having to permanently relocate to places like Chicago or Kansas City. The ironical ballad, with its haunting melody and chorus is a spot-on title for this revealing documentary, likely among the most important films Spike Lee and HBO have ever made. In addition to erasing many pre-conceived notions pertaining to Lee’s projects, the piece represents a cumulative voice of the Katrina disaster victims. It's an aggressively vocal, emotionally powerful and thoroughly detailed exposition on the devastation that was Hurricane Katrina as told by the survivors.
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It’s also a documentary in the truest sense--over 4 hours in length, with literally hundreds of images, dozens of interviews and a fully comprehensive analysis of exactly what went down. The film was even scored by Terence Blanchard, a Spike Lee collaborator and New Orleans native, who was coincidentally raised in the ninth ward in a house destroyed by the flooding. Nothing is withheld, nothing is censored. Perspectives on the plight of the city are portrayed through eyes of everyone. Testimonies include that of politicians and pedestrians; white, black, rich and poor; from those sheltering in the Superdome to those who escaped before the storm hit. Analysis is presented by structural engineers who assess why the levees broke and civilians who suspect otherwise.
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Among those featured are the multitudes left stranded on rooftops as well as the hundreds of homeless, disabled and displaced others all abruptly relocated against their will away from their families. Celebrities present at ground zero like Wynton Marsalis and Sean Penn offer their stories (Penn literally dropped everything flew to New Orleans from California after seeing a news brief). Journalists like Soledad O’Brien, who conducted a series of baffling interviews with infamous FEMA Director Michael Brown about the absence of federal aid, and WWL radio host Garland Robinette recall the maddening communications disaster and emergency management gaffe which imperiled the lives of thousands and imprinted a legacy of enmity and distrust towards government officials. For anyone with Louisiana ties or for those even remotely connected to New Orleans or the Gulf Region, this is a must see. (DVD 976.335044 WHEN)
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Recently a follow-up documentary mini-series "If God is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise", also by Spike Lee in partnership with HBO, was broadcast. Showing the lasting legacy of Hurricane Katrina, it reconnects with many of the original interviewees and looks back at the disaster while investigating how things have (or haven't) changed in the five years since the tragedy.