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Oscar-Nominated
Documentary about Hurricane Katrina Comes to DVD
Film
Review by Kam Williams
On
August 28, 2005, with Hurricane Katrina bearing down on the New Orleans,
Scott and Kimberly Rivers Roberts made the fateful
decision to weather the storm instead of evacuate. Armed with a video
camera, Kim started wandering around their Lower Ninth Ward
neighborhood, interviewing friends and relatives who had also chosen to
stay in the city.
It is readily apparent
from watching the pre-landfall footage that none of them anticipated the
dire struggle for survival which was about to unfold. Not only did they
expect the levees to hold like they had for every storm since the Great
Flood of 1927, but they had no reason to suspect they’d be utterly
abandoned by local, state and federal authorities in the event of a
massive natural disaster.
But as we all know,
that’s precisely what happened, and thousands of suddenly-homeless
citizens ended up stranded for days on end without any sustenance. They
were forced to fend for themselves during a triple-digit heat wave,
while awaiting the proverbial cavalry which never arrived.
Trouble the Water,
nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary category, is a
shocking expose’ which enables you to be a fly on the crumbling levee
walls as Kim and her husband shift from carefree observers into survival
mode. In virtually the blink of an eye, the atmosphere goes from ominous
to desperate as the water level rises so precipitously that no one has a
chance to make a dash for higher ground on foot.
Although the Roberts
lived to tell the tale, the same can’t be said for all the subjects of
their home movie. For example, the camera captures their utter dismay
two weeks after the hurricane passed, when they enter the house of Kim’s
uncle, who had been interviewed earlier, only to find his decomposing
corpse lying in the living room. Other horror stories follow, such as
the sight of an acquaintance’s aging mother whose body had been left
behind with dozens of other patients in a hospital turned morgue.
Equally-effectively
chronicled is the constant frustration the couple encountered in dealing
with FEMA bureaucrats who had the nerve to ask for documents obviously
washed away. No wonder so many of the victims ended up broke, depressed,
unemployed and no longer able to trust their own government.
There’s a telling scene
towards the end of the picture, featuring a displaced woman counseling
her son who wants to enter the military. “You’re not going to fight for
a country that doesn’t give a damn about you,” she declares
matter-of-factly. “No way!” Raw, unfiltered and expletive-laced, but a
brutally-honest reminder of what life has been like for the least
fortunate victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Unrated
Running time: 96 minutes
Studio: Zeitgeist Films
DVD Extras: Deleted and extended scenes, conversations with the
directors, subjects, film critic Richard Roeper and producer Danny
Glover, coverage of the film at the Democratic National Convention, and
the theatrical trailer.
To order a copy of Trouble the Water, visit:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0027EU2S2?ie=UTF8&tag=thslfofire-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0027EU2S2
To see a trailer for Trouble the Water, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq426VjZD1E
Rated
PG-13 for profanity, ethnic slurs, violence, drug references and mature
themes.
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Lloyd
Kam Williams 