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Released by: HBO
Released on: 4/19/2011
Director: Spike Lee
Cast: N/A
Year: 2010
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The Movie:
In 2006, Spike Lee took a crew to New Orleans to focus on what had happened to the city when Hurricane Katrina decimated much of it. The result was the documentary When The Levees Broke, and it basically shed some light on what the city was going through immediately after that disaster. Cut to 2010 and Lee has gone back to New Orleans for what is basically round two with his follow up film, If God Is Willing And Da Creek Don't Rise, which catches up with many of the people seen in the first movie and which takes its name from a poem read with no small amount of vitriol in the film's opening moments.
Split into two parts and running roughly four hours in length, this is a pretty massive undertaking but Lee's penchant for focusing on personal details and getting character and personality up on the screen make it a rather fascinating exercise. We start on a high note, with the New Orleans Saints winning the Superbowl and sending the entire city into party mode. These people needed something to lift their spirits and they got it and the win was all the excuse they needed to blow off some steam, but from there we catch up with people who left the state when it all hit the fan in 2006 and learn why they do or do not intend to return to their original homes.
We catch up with activists who seek to expose some of the shady dealings that have occurred in New Orleans since the hurricane, a good example being a series of housing projects that were bulldozed in spite of the fact that there wasn't so much damage done to them that they couldn't have been rebuilt. Developers and local politicians are sometimes cast in a less than ideal light while conspiracy theory minded types accuse the local and federal governments of indulging in ethnic cleansing. FEMA's efforts are put under a microscope, and rightly so as the film makes clear that quite a few mistakes were made that shouldn't have been, while the city and the entire Gulf Coast in general have to deal with the latest disaster to hit their region, the BP oil spill.
Lee paints a picture of a city that will not quit. Much like the people of New York rose up after the events of September 11 in 2001, the people of New Orleans have got a similar resolve. Sure, some people moved away and don't intend to come back and you can't half way blame them but the ones who love the city and want to stay, particularly those from the city's many low income neighborhoods, show admirable resolve and rock hard constitutions. There are many who are angry over the way the hurricane was handled even still and plenty more who are downright furious with the way that the BP oil spill was handled but underneath a lot of that you get a feel for a people who, as frustrated as they are and as angry as they are, love their city and really do want to overcome the odds and bring it back. Simultaneously inspiring and incredibly depressing, If God Is Willing And Da Creek Don't Rise turns out to be pretty telling stuff, a very mature and thorough documentary that is very much worth every bit of your time.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Taken from various sources, the 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer for this release is a bit erratic, but understandably so. Clips from news broadcasts don't look as sharp as the newly shot interview footage while amateur footage of Katrina and it's after effects are also a bit unpolished - but you can't fault the DVD for that. The disc is well authored and there are no problems with compression issues and generally things look just fine.
There's an English language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix here and a Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track with optional subtitles provided in English, French and Spanish. While this isn't the most engrossing surround mix you've ever heard, it spreads the score around and keeps the dialogue up front enough that you'll notice it. Some of the crowd scenes have some impressive rear channel action. The levels are fine and while some of the archival clips again exhibit some source related background noise, overall it's fine.
As far as the extras go, the first disc contains a revealing audio commentary with director Spike Lee. Never one to mix words, Lee spends his time giving credit where credit is due and listing off the names of people who helped him out on this project and telling some rather interesting stories about putting this project together. He speaks about some of the politicians featured in the film, how he tracked down certain people and problems that he ran into while filming. Considering the length of this feature, and Lee speaks over both parts, it's understandable that there's a fair bit of dead air in the track, but the good outweighs the bad.
This set also includes a sixty-seven minute long featurette entitled Pickin' Up Da Pieces that includes more follow up interviews and deleted scenes shot while making If God Is Willing. There's some rather interesting material here and a lot of it is just as good as what made it into the finished version of the movie - if you dug If God Is Willing… take the time to watch this one as well as it works on the same level.
Both discs are housed inside a nice hardcover book style package which lists the content of the discs inside. It's a small thing to most, but it's a nice touch and adds some class to the release.
The Final Word:
It's hard not to feel for the people Lee turns the spotlight on with this film. The people of Louisiana went through a lot when Katrina hit and while current events have taken the public's attention in other directions since, they continue to struggle. HBO's two disc set looks very good and sounds even better and contains some interesting extras as well, making this a documentary worth your time and a very nice package overall.
