poe-48833 The images of the aftermath are unforgettable: an elderly woman in a wheelchair, draped with a blanket, sitting lifeless on the sidewalk; gas-bloated bodies, blackened by rot, floating in water made toxic by raw sewage and industrial waste(s) or lying untended on the ground being buzzed by blowflies; people left stranded atop the roofs of homes all but under water, begging desperately for help from those come to watch and record in helicopters high above it all; the death toll pushing 2,000- just SOME of the sights and sounds of Catastrophe. WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE records it for posterity, but some things never seem to change. We're STILL indifferent to Suffering in this country. Consider this: just yesterday, 14 people were slaughtered (and another 17 or 18 wounded) by gun-toting American Terrorists ("terrorists" in MY lexicon being ANYONE whose goal is to Kill or to Terrorize others). The usual rhetoric has followed, but those we've chosen to "lead" us haven't lifted a f---ing finger to see that it never happens again. (In my own neighborhood, just this Saturday past, a gunman literally stood outside my front gate blasting away with a gun. His intention was to frighten neighbors across the street, but he stood in front of MY house when he did it. He fired half a dozen rounds. I know, because I counted the shell casings. By the time I got the front door open, he was gone. But he returned the very next day and did it again. This time, he cut loose with ten shots- again, I counted the shell casings in front of my home, no more than ten feet from my front door. The clean-up crew- the police- once more went through the motions of taping off my house and driveway and the street, but, as far as I've been able to determine, they still haven't got the gunman. He's still out there, as far as I know, and he's still armed.) Life in these United $tate$ just don't seem to be WORTH a whole lot to our Elected Leaders these days (the Libertarian Party, anyway, formerly known as the GOP); they seem to prefer POP- Profits Over People. Some s--- never changes...

Cam Silver This is a fair documentary that shows how storm hit from the preparations to the aftermath. All voices are heard from politicians to ordinary citizens. The film does a really good side of bringing the politicians who were blamed for not doing enough. The politicians story is told of why they acted the way they did, I wish people were interviewed from the federal government. The major government issue of this film is how state/federal rights got in the way of providing help. Also this documentary showed how the state failed in preparing for the storms with the levees. Social issues are explored in the film on how many minorities suffered the most during the storm. The toughest parts of New Orleans were hit the hardest. What this film does is that it takes us through the aftermath with ordinary citizens who lived through this storm. The ordinary citizens provide such a unique perceptive on how the government reacted. I highly recommend this film, it explores great topics such as government responses to natural disasters and race relations.

mantarayinvasion This documentary is intensely powerful, all 4 parts of it - easily over 4 or 5 hours in total (I watched it all from beginning to end in one sitting and lost track of time). The purity of the depiction is very refreshing, free of the overbearingly pompous moral platitudes of someone like Michael Moore. No voice-over, just the just the voices of people involved in the disaster. Yes, it is clear what side the filmmaker is on. However, the way the film is produced is balanced, thought-provoking and insightful in such a way that one simply cannot argue with what it is saying. It is incredibly poignant, but there is no sentimentality here - there 's simply no need for it, because the tragedy is so stark and numbing in its extremity. The scale of the tragedy is too huge for any lens to capture, but this is probably the closest most outsiders could ever get to feeling the pain of the New Orleans people. It is clear this was an unprecedented event, and it really does require the depth and scope that a 4 or 5 hour examination makes possible. It is always compulsive viewing, and while the subject matter is impossibly dark, it does show some wonderful flashes of human strength and positivity that provide some hope. In short, it is a masterpiece of documentary film-making, and a very courageous project.** spoilers and discussion below **The first 2 parts cover the buildup to and immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It is harrowing and painful. It is incredible to see 'third-world' scenes of utter devastation and people so viciously stripped of their humanity and dignity on American soil. You will see dead bodies hideously swollen and decomposed, shell-shocked children whose last memory of their home is watching their parents die. Words honestly fail me when trying to convey the horrors depicted here. It is not easy viewing, but in a way it is our duty to watch it.Nothing can prepare you for acts 3 and 4 that cover the longer-term aftermath. This is a mind-boggling story of an entire people, community and culture sold out and literally left to rot. Families are separated and dispersed around the country, left to fend for themselves. Work on clearing up the city doesn't even start for 6+ months after the event. On top of everything else, property developers are trying to steal citizens' bare land with the government's help (it's very profitable you see). It is a shameful indictment of the corrupt and subhuman way that the US is run. To any sane person watching, there is absolutely no doubt that the government of the US does not care about its people. For this reason alone this is probably the most important film that Spike Lee will ever make.I am saddened by the criticism of this film in some of the reviews here. The film is clearly not only about black people, even though when a city has such a large black majority it is inevitable that race will become an issue. Wake up America, the only place in the world with such segregated communities was South Africa during apartheid. There are a lot of clearly shocked white people here, quite obviously feeling absolutely betrayed by the government and system they formerly believed in. It seems almost like the negative reviewers are hired ghouls of the government out to discredit this film and its maker. The more cynical would say "well, what right do these people have to receive anything for free?" - I would implore these people to watch act 4. Lawful citizens who have paid years of tax and insurance, building a livelihood out of nothing with their bare hands, are told they will get nothing - theft and fraud on a grand scale. How does this fit into the American dream? How do you know that it won't happen to you tomorrow?The most incredible thing you realise after watching this film is that somewhere along the line, life and humanity became expendable and cheaper than the paper we worship. The only thing that means anything anymore is money and power, and the only way to grow is to acquire more of it. This documentary shows how empty and destructive this philosophy actually is. I'm happy that Spike Lee still has the balls to make films like this.The other thing you're left wondering at the end is: what more does it actually take for people to wake up and realise what is happening? What is this 'freedom' that is being sold to the world with a gun to its head?By the way if you think I'm a typical internet anarcho-commie rebel, you could not be further from the truth. I work, pay taxes, bills, all the rest of it, just like any honest citizen. Read my other reviews, I'm not some kind of reactionary Infowars sheep. However I refuse to bury my head in the sand, and after watching this film you will also find it hard to do so. The truth is here, more vivid, brutal and real than CNN could ever be. You owe it to yourself to watch it.

Framescourer A year's protracted, drip-fed pageant of disaster and failure condensed into four hours. Lee has the good sense never to use voice-over but to let the characters speak for themselves. There's also very little ingenuous editing: footage of Bush' risible praise of his FEMA director or Kanye West's wandering off-script are the only points repeated for impact. Or perhaps for credibility.If there is a sense of narration, the principal speaker is the truly exceptional Mrs. Phyllis Montana LaBlanc. No more than a resident talking head, she's lucid, passionate, modest and good humoured. Were that the indicted federal government were that straight-talking and entertaining.The impression that one gets from the documentary is twofold. Firstly that the American federal government under George Bush is a breathtakingly self-interested, incompetent joke. Secondly that the resilient people of New Orleans have been dispossessed, not of their houses and goods but of their dignity. The strength of the documentary is that it restores some of that by focusing on the honesty of the participants rather than attempting to make a material case for them. 7/10