Smiley Blog

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in IV Parts (3,240 characters) New Orleans – The Big Easy and The City that Care Forgot took on an entirely new meaning when on August the 29^th 2005, a Category 5 hurricane, Hurricane Katrina hit, unleashing a calamity of unthinkable proportions. Spike Lee, the director of Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X turned his hand to documentary and delivered his magnum opus and ode to New Orleans, confirming his position as one of the master storytellers of his generation. When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in IV Parts is part epic fable, part cinematic thriller replete with its own blood-rushing cataclysmic disaster, heroes, villains and scapegoats.  The opening seconds of the film take in a magnificent aerial view of New Orleans, accompanied by Louis Armstrong singing “Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans” and you know you’re in for something special. From the beginning, the story engages with the multitude of testimonies from people who left and people who stayed as they describe the moments and the hours leading to the impending disaster. The build up is as intense as it is unbearable. Katrina hits, then moves East but then the levees broke…New Orleans, a city 6 feet below sea level relived its nightmare of 1965 when Hurricane Betty hit, instigating a flood. Once again those left behind watched in despair and fought for survival as their beloved city succumbed to rising waters. What caused the flooding? Was it nature’s fury or human folly? Questions about faulty engineering within the levees were raised. The painful urban myth that the levees had been intentionally breached after Hurricane Betsy hit, allowing flood waters to penetrate the lower wards in order to save the more expensive lake-side real estate was revived. Accusations of bigotry started to fly. The historical concerns and dissatisfaction about Louisiana’s high poverty levels and the lack of investment in its economic and educational infra-structure became high points of discussion by angry black leaders in the news. The public continued to express its disillusionment with an administration that seemed to prioritise spending on an unpopular war above the basic needs of its own people. “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” says hip-hop superstar Kanye West clumsily, in a moment of unscripted valour, during a live concert fundraiser on NBC - saying what people were thinking and shouting in the streets but did not dare utter on prime national TV. Whilst the city drowned, the State and Federal governments engaged in a pedantic battle over how to apply resources. The post disaster response from the Federal Government, feeble and stilted forced individuals to take matters in their own hands.  Celebrities and ordinary folk lay bare their stories. The picture that would later emerge would be one of heroes and saints worthy of a modern-day allegory. Rev. Willie Walker Jr of the Noah’s Ark Church lived up to the name of his congregation when he got on a boat and tried to find the 250 school children who had been trapped. Hollywood actor Sean Penn personally attempted to ferry the stranded residents. The US Coastguard  lifeguards worked up to 40 hours at a time. Nameless thousands continued to wade barefoot through rising waters, sludge, mud and the smell of death as they carried babies, the elderly and the sick on their backs and to safety. They were imbued with the spirit of a people who had lived a legacy of surviving against the odds.  

Spike’s previous dramatic features have dealt with social issues faced by African Americans. When the Levees Broke, one of his most ambitious and potent productions, plays on that theme. But beyond that, it is also a forceful reminder to politicians, government agencies, town planners and engineers that some disasters are preventable and of how not to behave when disaster strikes. - Ewa Bigio ( courtesy of DOCNZ programme 2007 )

Body of War ( Dirs: Phil Donahue & Ellen Spiro ) ****

(More details to come )

Trumbo ( dir. Peter Askin )****

A superb… ( more details to come )

Que Pasa Despues De La Coca?(Coca Lives)

Review to come….

Indestructible ( dir: Ben Byer ) ***

Photo Source: Indestructible website www.indestructiblefilm.com

Indestructible is a likeable character-driven autobiographical story about director Byer’s struggle to overcome Lou Gehrig’s disease - the neurological disease that befell him in his 30s. The film starts with a lively montage of Byer in the pre - disease stages of his life. The sequence is reminiscent of the stylised video sequences in the Peabody winning documentary Braindamadj’d about Canadian Paul Nadler’s attempts to recover from traumatic brain injury. The intro then cuts to Byer after he has been diagnosed with the disease. The lack of information about the cause of the disease is a source of frustration for him and becomes the driving force that compels him to find a cure. What starts off as a search for medical answers eventually sparks off an existential journey that leads Byer back to his religious roots. The documentary is filmed over a period of a number of years and allows us to see Byer’s gradual physical deterioration alongside his growing spiritual crisis.

Byer finds a miracle Chinese herb, Bu Nao Gao ( BNG ) over the internet and flies over to China to meet with BNG doctor Dr Yong Chao Xia. It is also there that he meets fellow American Todd Van Bodegom-Smith who also suffers from ALS. Todd having turned his back on Western medicine, has adopted Eastern philosophy and spirituality and rhas ejected his previous fast-paced lifestyle in an attempt to overcome the disease. It is in China that Byer begins to explore what Eastern and alternative medicine has to offer him What begins possibly as a new phase in his search for a cure, offering hope and possibilities eventually degenerates into a series of disappointments  as medical quick – fixes encountered end up questionably as scams rather than remedies. The most controversial moment in the film is offered by a surgical procedure that Byer undertakes in Beijing that involves the injection of cells taken from the nasal bridges of aborted fetuses into the temples of ALS patients. Unlike the Belgian patient before him who marveled at the results of the procedure, Byer’s optimism eventually turns as the procedure fails to deliver the transformation promised and the life he once knew. Byer’s search also takes him to Jamaica where he explores the medicinal qualities of cannabis as a form of pain relief for ALS patients.

In the background, the family relationships in this story provide a personal dimension that creates another layer of tension within the story - the difficult father-son dynamics as the father develops an almost evangelical-like fervor for saving other ALS patients to the point of organizing a group of American ALS patients to Beijing for the controversial cell-transplant treatment, whilst Byer simply focuses on self –preservation; the strained relationship between Byer’s parents and his sister who takes on the role of Byer’s  caretaker when Byer moves in with her after his marriage falls apart; and Byer’s relationship with his young son who manages to adapt to his father’s changing circumstances.

Alongside Ben’s personal story, the film raises ethical questions about the sometimes cruel world of alternative medicine, and the financial, physical and emotional harm that it can inflict upon those who are desperate and have lost all hope. The story culminates in Israel where Byer reunites with his elder brother who has stayed away. Byer, now several years later and in worse physical shape is perhaps more resigned and must come to terms with questions about his mortality. In Jerusalem he confronts Rabbi David Gordis and questions “what Judaism has to offer him”. The Rabbi is humbled and offers some rationale for Byer’s suffering.

In a cinematic climax, Byer helped by his brother climbs Masada - the historic plateau and the scene of a mass suicide in 76 CE when 1000 Jews under siege by Romans took their lives when defeat was imminent. The barren desert provides a stunning backdrop and the peak, a powerful metaphor for Byer’s gargantuan struggle to overcome his debilitating illness and his wrestle with matters of faith and fate.

Indestructible is a deeply poetic and honest film that finishes very, very strongly.

Dalai Lama Renaissance ( dir. Khashyar Darvich )**

Photo Source: Dalai Lama Film website www.dalailamafilm.com

Worldwide the Dalai Lama is immensely popular and a documentary about the Dalai Lama is always going to attract its own share of audiences and followers. Dalai Lama Renaissance is a film that focuses on what transpired when 40 prominent thinkers converged on the Himalayan Mountains, the home of the Dalai Lama, ostensibly to discuss the world’s problems and how to solve them. What the 40 participants; experts in their fields ranging from scientists, philosophers, scholars, activists and mostly over-achieving divas who think they have been brought over for their  wisdom don’t realise is that they are about to receive a dressing down from the humble monk.

The film structure is based on a video diary format charting the interaction between the participants who are thrust into group sessions and must resolve their differing view-points over a smorgasbord of world issues, much like what happens in the wider world.   Director Darvich covers the event, termed “Synthesis” by charting the dialectical process that the participants engage in as they strive towards resolution by the end of their stay.  The film is a predictable piece of reportage saved only by a smattering of moments that involve the Dalai Lama where he exhibits the charisma and affability that has seen him connect with millions of people from all walks of life from around the world.

As the guests - some of academia’s superstars including Physics expert Dr Amit Goswami (author of The Self Aware Universe: How Consciousness Creates the Material World) and outspoken Indian activist Vandana Shiva (the darling subject of a number of documentaries) clash and argue over the issues, the Dalai Lama appears from time to time and shares his philosophy on religion and conflict resolution. One of the more interesting moments of the film occurs when one of the guests questions whether the Dalai Lama would support the use of sanctions as an acceptable measure for putting pressure on the Chinese government to bring an end to its human rights violations. Put on the spot, the Dalai Lama gives a skillful response worthy of even the most seasoned trial lawyer and somehow manages to construct a non-response by handing the debate back to the visitors.

Eventually, as the guests absorb the monk’s philosophy during the course of the short stay they come to the inevitable conclusion that the solution to the world’s problems indeed begins with the more modest proposition that one must attempt to solve one’s own issues before venturing further afield to save the world. Quoting Tolstoy, “everybody thinks of changing humanity but nobody thinks of changing himself” Darvich is there to capture the moment when the guests arrive at this revelatory moment. In essence the Dalai Lama imparts some of his humility to the congregation, some of whom are unapologetically arrogant but less so by the end of the lesson.

A tad long, Dalai Lama Renaissance is a rather straightforward report of an event, of which an edited version might be of interest to a few TV slots dealing with religion and ethics looking for a stylistically conventional piece of story telling involving a contemporary icon. 

 War Made Easy ( dir. Loretta Alper, Jeremy Earp )  ****

Source Photos: War Made Easy website www.warmadeeasythemovie.org

This Media Education Foundation production is based on journalist, Norman Solomon’s book War Made Easy: How the Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. Post 9/11 the festival circuit has seen a raft of documentaries more or less touching on the same subject albeit taking different forms that relate to the duplicitous nature of the US government and its foreign policy. What makes War Made Easy one of the more superior and effective works on this topic is its rigorous analysis and its collation of media images over the decades that relate to war reporting.

Solomon identifies the parallels between Vietnam, Panama and Iraq and the manner in which the US government has worked in rallying public support for military interventions. The juxtaposition of 1935 Nazi propaganda film “The Triumph of the Will” and US Defence Department’s 1942 film “Why We Fight” sets a sinister tone upon which the film builds its case.

The premise of Solomon’s argument is a simple one, and certainly not new - that the Pentagon invests heavily in managing the public relations of its military interventions and over time this has evolved into a highly sophisticated machinery capable of duping the masses, assisted by a network of complicit media outlets. The challenge then is how do you build an argument that is convincing which does not descend into sensationalism and succumb to hysterical conspiracy theories so prevalent in the genre of anti US government documentaries of late? Solomon and the directors, Alper and Earp present an intricately constructed leitmotif  of images relating to the war reporting activity over the decades of various major media players including FOX, CNN and NBC. In focusing their debate on one narrow aspect of the Pentagon’s modus operandi, they provide a lucid, uncluttered and effective examination that raises valid questions about the levels to which  journalistic standards have sunk and the systemic manipulation of the press and the public by the White House for its foreign policy ends; perhaps even at the expense of truth. 

Solomon claims that the history of US pre - military interventions over the decades has followed a deliberate and concise path, only with different players and countries entering into the fore. Beginning with the premise that war is necessary and inevitable, the public, strung along by journalists who have been embedded within the war machinery develops an appetite for war and a belief in the prospect that a dominant US military that will prevail over “the axis of evil”, ensuring a swift and fast victory. The process of embedding described by Solomon  include boot camps run by the Pentagon under the pre-text of preparing journalists on the protocols of reporting within a war zone, through which an inevitable camaraderie develops between the journalists and soldiers, making independent reportage a challenging proposition. The process of embedding reflects a new strategic approach adopted by military officials to embrace journalists into their realm, which has seen good results in the press as journalists take to the open doors and offer favorable behind - the - scenes perspectives on the US military that increases nationalistic fervor and patriotism.

The film also takes  time to reflect on the complicated historical relationship between the media, the Pentagon and the history of war reportage, in particular during Vietnam and how that might have affected the course of events.  It is conventional wisdom that press coverage of war in Vietnam was what forced its eventual withdrawal.  In early 1968 when Walter Cronkite gave his report that the war could not be won, it was said by Lyndon Johnson that this was the start of the turning of the tide. The press simply became a problem that needed to be “managed”, according to Cheney; like a high end TV production and thus more resources and ideas were employed towards achieving these ends. Like for example, the $200,000 backdrop created in Qatar for war briefings by a Hollywood set designer; the coining of names such as “Operation Desert Storm” and the overriding press talk focusing on the technological sophistication of various war machines, all contributing towards the public’s general fascination and taste for war.

The film suggests many other parallels between Vietnam and Iraq, citing the Gulf of Tonkin and the existence of weapons of mass destruction as pretexts for escalating military intervention respectively in both those cases and the eventual withdrawal of land troops shifting the burden of fighting the war onto the local population when war became unpopular - these cite Solomon are not spontaneous  but calculated responses of a finely tuned and well - oiled machine that has blended in nicely with the media terrain. Even the eventual “quagmire” we find ourselves in when war isn’t going so well as a way of fomenting debate is another example of a manipulated response by a Government that does not trust leaving it to the press to report, on its own account. 

The strength of War Made Easy is its focus on a singular issue which it expands with detail and analysis proving that less really is more. Based on a book written by a journalist for other journalists it is a film that should be watched by all of us who have a minor inkling that maybe we just can trust everything we see and hear on the news.   

Montreal in summer is probably one of the most irresistible cities in the world and this is where I find myself in the midst of a hot sticky August, fossicking through a list of about 45 long format documentaries, looking for some of those gems missed possibly by some of the more commercially driven A list festivals. Hot on the heels of MWFF is TIFF making MWFF a convenient stop for those on the way to the bigger, more glamorous TIFF which starts on the 6th of September. The premiere count for the documentary section looked something like this - 18 world premieres and 10 international  premieres and films listed with productions dates from 2006 - 2007.

The Disappeared ( Dir: Peter Sanders )***

There have been quite a number of documentaries made about oppressive Latin American regimes in recent times but The Disappeared is one of the more engaging and well-made documentaries to have emerged about Argentina’s Dirty War and the stolen children of the desaparecidos. Like Steve York’s Orange Revolution which charts the incredible demonstration led by the people in the streets of Kyiz, Ukraine when Opposition leader Yushchenko exited the polls, The Disappeared is a poignant reminder of the collective power that resides within the people. The personal angle is led by Castillo; or Horacio Pietragalla, the son of activists who were murdered by the military.

Unbeknownst to Horacio he was raised by the maid of the officer who killed his parents. Sanders juxtaposes interviews with Horatio and members of his adopted family who independently give their accounts of Horacio’s childhood. The interviews give the impression of 2 very separate worlds - one which lacked love and genuine warmth and another in which the adopted child was given a second shot at life and unconditional love. It is never really clear where the truth resides. Horacio subsequently reunites with his extended family and his adopted parents end up in prison having been arrested on two counts of concealment of a minor and forgery of documents. Like most good criminal investigative thrillers the truth is never really clear as the parties present their own versions of reality.

The personal angle in The Disappeared gives it a sentimental edge, accompanied by a rich collage of personal archival photographs and other footage. The film attempts to redress the image of the Montoneros as a terrorist organisation by showing that at the grassroots level the majority of the supporters were simply students who took to the streets; tired of living under a military dictatorship. The ultimate question is then asked, which is the greater evil - the civilian terrorists or the state terrorists?

Plaza de Mayo has been a focal point for mass demonstrations and political rallies for decades in Buenos Aires and the film includes powerful footage of the “abuelas”, or scores of elderly women who lost their children in the 70’s and early 80’s to state sponsored genocide, demonstrating fearlessly for the missing ones. Then we are reminded by Andrew Graham-Yooll, Editor-in-Chief of the Buenos Aires Herald that although the military battle had been lost, the fight had been won in the court of public opinion because the “dead have a political weight which nobody can throw off”. Although the filmic style is conventional, Horacio’s story is remarkable and the excellent use of archival footage, accompanied by a Piazzolla soundtrack has resulted in a moving and atmospheric document of one of Argentina’s bloodiest periods. A worthwhile film and an edited down version will certainly attract good interest from TV buyers.