#1 ·
I don’t usually go out of my way for documentaries—partly because there isn't much good stuff out there, and partly because I just haven't been that interested in the genre lately—but I have to say, this one, which I stumbled upon purely by accident, really blew me away.
Spike Lee did an incredible job. Over nearly five and a half hours, he manages to weave together a complete narrative regarding the biggest natural disaster the US has faced this century. He stays focused for almost the entire run, though he does stumble once; personally, I felt the segment on the music from New Orleans was dropped in at a totally awkward moment.
The documentary is structured in four acts, as the title suggests, with each one running about an hour. Lee actually won an Emmy for Best Documentary Direction for this last weekend, and it rightfully took home top honors at Venice last year.
There is a fifth act that serves as a sort of epilogue. It isn't technically part of the main film, but rather a 105-minute bonus feature on the DVD. Honestly, it's probably the weakest part, though still somewhat interesting. The highlights are definitely the bits featuring Sean Penn talking about his time in New Orleans, even if he doesn't get much screen time in the actual documentary.
Bottom line: if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.
If anyone else has watched it, I'd love to hear what you thought. 🙂
Spike Lee did an incredible job. Over nearly five and a half hours, he manages to weave together a complete narrative regarding the biggest natural disaster the US has faced this century. He stays focused for almost the entire run, though he does stumble once; personally, I felt the segment on the music from New Orleans was dropped in at a totally awkward moment.
The documentary is structured in four acts, as the title suggests, with each one running about an hour. Lee actually won an Emmy for Best Documentary Direction for this last weekend, and it rightfully took home top honors at Venice last year.
There is a fifth act that serves as a sort of epilogue. It isn't technically part of the main film, but rather a 105-minute bonus feature on the DVD. Honestly, it's probably the weakest part, though still somewhat interesting. The highlights are definitely the bits featuring Sean Penn talking about his time in New Orleans, even if he doesn't get much screen time in the actual documentary.
Bottom line: if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.
If anyone else has watched it, I'd love to hear what you thought. 🙂