X
- 2006
- TV-MA
- Home Box Office (HBO)
- 4 h 15 m
- 2006
- TV-MA
- Home Box Office (HBO)
- 4 h 15 m
Summary An examination of the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina.
Directed By: Spike Lee
- 2006
- TV-MA
- Home Box Office (HBO)
- 4 h 15 m
- 2006
- TV-MA
- Home Box Office (HBO)
- 4 h 15 m
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
6.0
Summary An examination of the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina.
Directed By: Spike Lee
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 16 Critic Reviews
89
100% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 16 Critic Reviews
89
100% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Lee takes time to explain the stories behind the stories, to unearth revealing details under-reported in other accounts, and to identify individuals among the faceless masses of unfortunates.
All hyperbole aside, “When the Levees Broke” is one of the most important film documents ever made. It’s an honest, fair and unflinching look at one of the greatest, and saddest, natural disasters to hit our shores.
Spike Lee's documentary When The Levees Broke runs four hours, but Lee arguably says what he needs to say in the brilliant opening montage, which cuts together footage of New Orleans in the 20th century, including Mardi Gras parades, segregation marches, and flood after flood.
Lee foregoes useless speechifying, opting instead to create an epic document of New Orleans’s struggle, death, abandonment and subsequent reconstruction (a requiem in four acts) that should prove instructive for years to come, if not in facts than for its emotional scope: an up-close, deeply empathetic and soulful journey through the stories that make up this catastrophe.
The overall effect of the film is a case study in how dispassionate leaders sow mistrust in their most needy citizens.
Although seeds of hope are woven into this tapestry of rage, sorrow and disbelief, the inability of government at almost every level to act quickly and decisively leaves you aghast at what amounts to a collective failure of will.
There are moments -- just a few of them -- when the film . . . does feel a bit like work, a relentless civics lesson about the storm and its still-unfolding aftermath.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 5 User Ratings
6.0
60% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
20% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
20% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 5 User Ratings
6.0
60% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
20% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
20% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
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Production Company
HBO Documentary Films,
40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
Release Date Aug 21, 2006
Duration 4 h 15 m
Rating TV-MA
Genres
Tagline An American Tragedy
Awards
Primetime Emmy Awards
• 3 Wins & 6 Nominations
Venice Film Festival
• 3 Wins & 4 Nominations
Television Critics Association Awards
• 3 Nominations
