When The Levees Broke
Spike Lee's Monumental Film About an Unforgettable Tragedy
Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Parts is a painstaking chronicle of the devastation and struggle to rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Parts is perhaps Spike Lee's least opinionated and most impassioned film to-date. Raw and harrowing, the HBO Documentary painstakingly chronicles the disaster and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Originally intended to clock in at a mere two-hours, this detailed account unfolds in four, giving us a step-by-step report of the hurricane's approach; and the ensuing devastation, evacuation, and the survivors struggle to rebuild.
The film opens with the following quote from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin:
"We come to you with facts. We come to you with eyewitness accounts. We come to you because we were there before the storm hit, we were there when the storm hit, we were there after the storm and we're still there."
And that's exactly how Spike Lee broaches this ugly, yet vital part of American history - by weaving together the personal testimonies of New Orleans natives who weathered the storm and letting them tell their story. The result is an unbiased and factual record of the largest domestic disaster in US history, as well as a resounding condemnation of the systems & agencies that failed the US people.
When The Levees Broke contains moments that are burdensome to watch, like the newsreel footage of dead bodies floating in water or of those corpses left to rot along the roadsides of Louisiana. This is the kind of footage you expect to see in third world, war-torn countries, but instead you are seeing it in your backyard. There's the heartbreaking story of Herbert Freeman Jr. who managed to escape with his mother to the New Orleans Convention Center only to have her die due to lack of available medical attention, and the story of a gunshot victim who lifts up his shirt to reveal 20 scars on his chest from random rifle fire during the period of looting and hysteria following the hurricane.
However, the film doesn't linger on these gruesome scenes, but instead tackles the practical issues involved with rebuilding New Orleans. People want to return home, but they have no means to return and no actual "home" to live in. Those brave few who have come back are in the process of trying to scrape through the rubble and start fresh. The question of safety still remains, as the Army Corps Engineers begin to reconstruct the levees. The film concludes with a funeral procession through the Lower 9th Ward. We see the name "Katrina" emblazoned across the side of the casket as jazz musicians trumpet the famous Gospel song, "I'll Fly Away", and realize that despite the daunting tasks that lie ahead, the distinct spirit and culture of the people of New Orleans lives on - broken, but not overcome.
