Re: Katrina .... they still remember Bush
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - <FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post><INPUT type=hidden value='"Spike Lee"' name=p> <INPUT type=hidden value=c1,i,yn,c3 name=sourceOrder> <INPUT type=hidden value='[FONT=arial,sans-serif]
Spike Lee[/FONT]
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' name=c3> <INPUT type=hidden name=sourceURL> <INPUT type=hidden value=yq-news name=fr> <INPUT type=hidden value="Spike Lee calls his
four-hour documentary on Hurricane Katrina a requiem, which it
is, but that only begins to describe it." name=context> </FORM>
Spike Lee calls his four-hour documentary on Hurricane Katrina a requiem, which it is, but that only begins to describe it.
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The film, broken into four parts, is much more than a memorial chant to those who died in a natural disaster that went largely unmitigated by manmade relief. It also is a comprehensive look at what the storm did to the lives of the people who survived it.
The docu doesn't shrink from any part of the story. It includes the vast landscape of devastation, which is indisputable, as well as the assignment of blame for the tragic and inadequate response, some of which remains debatable. Lee's work is big enough to allow for conflicting opinions, though in most cases, it isn't hard to discern where the filmmaker stands.
There are powerful images and words during both nights, but if you must choose only one to watch, pick the first. Acts I and II deal with the predictions of the hurricane, the terrible storm and the immediate aftermath. The faces of Katrina's victims, as they describe their life-or-death ordeals, are flat-out unforgettable. Individual accounts put larger stories -- everything from the horrors at the Superdome to the extent of looting -- into greater perspective
Acts III and IV, though no less important to the telling of the story, are more reflective and less visceral. They highlight the inadequate government response and, through news footage and interviews, offer a variety of reasons and excuses. The final night also deals with life after Katrina including, in particular, a segment on the emotional wounds likely to last for generations. Both nights show the genius of Terence Blanchard, whose original music heightens the drama, and of the editors, who made superb choices from a huge volume of material.
Before 2005 ended, Lee had begun the first of his eight trips to New Orleans to gather the interviews and images that he would weave so masterfully into what may well be the ultimate account of this sorrowful chapter in American history. Overwhelmingly, his subjects were well chosen for the range of their experiences and their vivid first-person accounts. The few exceptions, such as <FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post><INPUT type=hidden value='"Harry Belafonte"' name=p> <INPUT type=hidden value=c1,i,yn,c3 name=sourceOrder> <INPUT type=hidden value='[FONT=arial,sans-serif]
Harry Belafonte[/FONT]
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' name=c3> <INPUT type=hidden name=sourceURL> <INPUT type=hidden value=yq-news name=fr> <INPUT type=hidden value="Before 2005 ended, Lee had begun the first of his eight
trips to New Orleans to gather the interviews and images that
he would weave so masterfully into what may well be the
ultimate account of this sorrowful chapter in American history.
Overwhelmingly, his subjects were well chosen for the range of
their experiences and their vivid first-person accounts. The
few exceptions, such as Harry Belafonte and activist/candidate
Rev. Al Sharpton, seemingly were picked to raise the level of
indignation over the lack of adequate government response." name=context> </FORM>
Harry Belafonte and activist/candidate Rev. <FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post><INPUT type=hidden value='"Al Sharpton"' name=p> <INPUT type=hidden value=c1,i,yn,c3 name=sourceOrder> <INPUT type=hidden value='[FONT=arial,sans-serif]
Al Sharpton[/FONT]
' name=c1> <INPUT type=hidden value='
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' name=c3> <INPUT type=hidden name=sourceURL> <INPUT type=hidden value=yq-news name=fr> <INPUT type=hidden value="Before 2005 ended, Lee had begun the first of his eight
trips to New Orleans to gather the interviews and images that
he would weave so masterfully into what may well be the
ultimate account of this sorrowful chapter in American history.
Overwhelmingly, his subjects were well chosen for the range of
their experiences and their vivid first-person accounts. The
few exceptions, such as Harry Belafonte and activist/candidate
Rev. Al Sharpton, seemingly were picked to raise the level of
indignation over the lack of adequate government response." name=context> </FORM>
Al Sharpton, seemingly were picked to raise the level of indignation over the lack of adequate government response.
Katrina's swath of destruction was far wider than just the city of New Orleans. Lee acknowledges the damage to parts of Mississippi and other areas in Louisiana, but his focus is almost entirely on the Crescent City and its residents. Although Katrina's wrath was felt by everyone in its path, Lee is particularly sensitive to the toll it exacted on New Orleans' least powerful citizens, most of them black. While this adds to a subtext in the documentary that race was a key part of the story, it also focuses attention on the greatest human costs and the need to avert such suffering in the future.
Executive producer: Sheila Nevins; Supervising producer: Jacqueline Glover; Line producer: Butch Robinson; Producers: Spike Lee, Sam Pollard; Director: Spike Lee; Director of photography: Cliff Charles; Supervising editor: Sam Pollard; Editors: Getta Gandbhir, Nancy Novack; Original music: Terence Blanchard.
--> Orleans.</nobr> Concerns were repeatedly raised that neither of these companies had the manpower or experience to handle the job and would not be able to complete the work successfully. However, those concerns became moot once the companies proved unable to secure financing for their performance bond and therefore lost the contract. 
