Als die Deiche brachen: Ein Requiem in vier Akten

By far and away the best documentary on Katrina and what happened to the people of my home, New Orleans. It captures the anger, the despair, the fear, and the humanity of our country's greatest disaster. I still cry when I see my city under water. I cry even more knowing others did not receive equal assistance because of the color of their skin. I was concerned that Spike Lee would put his spin on this tragedy, but he has done the opposite. He allows citizens from all over the city, economic and racial backgrounds to tell the real story. He gives a fair and balanced perspective on how all levels of our government failed the people of New Olreans and a good portion of the Gulf Region. I only hope that Mr. Lee comes back in a few years to film another documentary, "The City New Orleanians Re-Built".

Thank you Spike and all the people at 40 Acres and a Mule for doing what had to be done - recording the real story. I see heaps of Emmys.

I saw this four-hour documentary here in the city, in an arena with about 8000 other locals (I was born and raised here and this is my first visit since Katrina). It was beautiful and had me crying from the opening montage, with the incredibly beautiful New Orleans music and Blanchard's haunting score. The point of the movie seemed to me to document the horrors and outrages that the human beings in the NOLA area had to survive (as Lee said introducing the movie, be sure you have a box of Kleenex), as well as their inimitable humor and love of life that has so far been the ONLY thing to sustain the city. In the nightmare aftermath of insurance ripoffs, government incompetence and stinginess, and frequent scorn and betrayal by other "Americans," we New Orleanians now know that we have NOBODY to rely on but ourselves and each other. And after watching this movie, I am beginning to have faith that that might actually be enough. Because we are strong, resourceful, loving, fun, proud, badass people. And to his enormous credit, Spike Lee totally gets us and has really captured the soul of the city itself: its priceless daughters and sons. All of us.

Our local rag, the Times-Picayune, published a racist and misleading review of the movie on the day it was going to be screened, basically saying it only portrayed the black experience of Katrina, whatever that means. Many white people I know didn't want to see it, based on this, which is a horrible mistake. Some of Lee's movies are provocative representations of race relations; this one IS NOT, or at least, not in that sense. Please don't fall for that--the documentary shows many different views, and of course not all "black" views are the same either, as we see, for example, in the astute critique of Condi Rice's shoe shopping jaunt. Racism is certainly an issue in discussing Katrina, but this movie doesn't endorse divisiveness at all.

I think we in the US, or at least in NOLA, ought to know better than to think that we can only relate to people who look like us. I wept for and laughed and cheered almost all the interviewees in the movie, whatever their skin color. The white women in St. Bernard and the black folks from the Lower Nine, the white guy from Uptown and the creoles from around the city. Even the rich couple from Park Island, who reminded my husband of Lovey and Thuston Howell. We are all affected by the events of Katrina, not in the same ways, but that's why this movie can help us. We can see many different Katrina stories and get a bit more sense of the scope and scale of this disaster. I grew up in Gentilly Woods so I identified most with the family in Pontchartrain Park, a few blocks north, even though I'm white and they're black. Go figure.

The bigger point is, white people need to stop freaking out about race and whether NOLA is a "chocolate city" or not, and look at the real problems: the wetlands, the federal, state, and local neglect of the levees, and the problems that preceded: education, economy, infrastructure. Those affect everyone in the city, and people outside NOLA should take heed, these are not just our problems either. This could happen to you.

Spike Lee is certainly not correct about levees being blown,but the truth is even worse.He is certainly nearer to the truth than people who blame "the force of the hurricane".As one who rode out both Katrina and Hurricane Betsy in the same house in Gentilly,it was obvious at the time that Katrina was no worse.The lake levees,which were properly built,though exposed to the full force of the storm,came through unscathed.What collapsed and flooded the main part of the city west of the Industrial Canal were those worthless,cracker box,stage-prop "flood walls" along the drainage canals that folded up and collapsed like cheap card tables the minute the water rose.

Besides the Corps of Engineers,we can blame former Mayor "Slimy Sidney" Barthelemy"The Man Who Murdered A City".He deliberately forced out the veteran engineers of the Sewage & Water Board,so that no one would object to those worthless (but profitable) frauds.AND he had the valuable assistance of the alleged "newspaper",the Times Picayune which covered up his criminality. The incompetent stooges that Barthelemy replaced the experienced engineers with not only approved those worthless flood walls that the old engineers knew were disasters waiting to happen,but, still infesting the Sewage & Water Board to this day,insanely dredged the drainage canals in such a way as to remove what little foundations those flood walls had.The 17th St. Canal shows this graphically.This sits astride the parish line.Jefferson Parish engineers refused to allow this lunatic dredging on THEIR side of the canal, which is why only the Orleans side collapsed.A year before Katrina, people living along the drainage canals complained of salt water seeping into their yards, killing plants.To a COMPETENT,HONEST engineer this a clear sign that something was dangerously wrong with the levee foundations.But the Barthelemy "engineers" swept it under the rug,telling people that they were "imagining things".

And as for blaming those who wouldn't evacuate,If one thing was proved, it is that evacuating a city this size IS NOT PRACTICAL.New Orleans could and should have been an impregnable fortress against hurricanes.The vast bulk of the misery caused by Barthelemy's Flood was the destruction of the homes,and LIVES of the "survivors",who now have to live,or rather EXIST in this horror.The empty city was picked clean by looters despite the presence of thousands of police and National Guard,which shows that it is the PEOPLE who are the real crime deterrents.Telling people,"Get out, let the hurricane and the looters destroy your homes and businesses,and we will give you sardine can trailers to live in" is typical of the garbage we hear from the government.

Spike Lee was certainly the right person to make this documentary. The tidbits I watched unfold on the news as it was happening were horrifying enough. To see the 2-hour story, with emotional and heated commentary from diverse residents representing many communities, Mayor Nagin, the CNN Newscaster,and more was devastating! It is hard to digest the government's third-world response, as though New Orleans is some unknown town, hidden and off the map.

I've wanted to believe that I am a citizen of one of the most powerful places in the world, jointly connected to and equally as important as any other citizen in America. This documentary was all too telling that Black people are still at the back of the bus - if on the bus at all.

Thank you for bringing this all too-telling piece of modern history to the fore-front of our annals.

Every American should see this documentary. Spike Lee has done an award winning film on the Katrina disaster. When America realizes that:the disaster was caused by the admitted poor construction of the Levees by the Army Corps of Engineers and the impact on the wetlands caused by the dredging of the outlet of the Mississippi river; and that 30 % of Americas oil and gas production comes off the Lousinana coastline, even though it is technically too far from the coast to generate direct revenue to the state of Louisiana; this disaster has Federal accountability. Whether or not the insurance companies have blame for calling the damage a result of flood, instead of the flood caused by the Hurricane (duh!), whatever is the cost of rebuilding the city should be born by the American taxpayer, or the appropriate budget reallocation. Spike Lee's documentary shows that both in human and logical terms, it's time for the American public to insist that our sister states that were damaged by Katrina be restored ASAP and both the levees and the oil/gas production be secured to a level appropriate with the risk. Thank god for the free press of our great nation.