Spike Lee's doc was wonderful. The problem I had with it was the four hour length. I found it very engrossing but it may be because I live in NO. A lot of really good stuff about the history of the black and mixed race community in New Orleans came late in the film, after a lot of people probably tuned out.
But the storm related footage was very good and very thorough. And it did a good job of showing the bleak and almost anarchic atmoshpere during the time right after the storm, as well as the desolation of the empty city throughout the month of September 2005.
I know I am beating this to death, but try to imagine a city the size of Washington or Cincinatti suddenly emptied of people. It's like something out of a science fiction film. But it really happened just a short time ago. And this couple was one of a handful of people who decided to stay and made a go of it. Putting aside the other obvious attraction their story would have for a book or screenwriter, think of what they experienced on a daily basis during the weeks right after the storm.
The Perfect Katrina Film?
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OscarGuy
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While it's only a documentary, everything I've heard about Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke" indicates its the kind of film everyone's looking for. It apparently takes an incredibly dim view of the government response to the disaster.
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
I think the first Katrina films will be standard TV movies, and may be already in the can for February sweeps. The main characters will be: 1) a mid-level officer in the Army Corps Of Engineers who will warn his superiors at the beginning of the film that the levees in New Orleans will not hold up should the city be hit by a category 4 hurricane but will be rebuffed; 2) mid-level employees of FEMA, the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans, warning that they are not ready to handle a category 4 hurricane hitting New Orleans but being rebuffed by their superiors; 3) a Coast Guardsman and a New Orleans police officer who will rescue several people while not finding out that their own families are OK until the end of the film.
This could make for a good film. But the real victims of the storm will be mere ciphers, helplessly waiting to be rescued. That is one of the things I would like about a film about this sad couple. They lived in the city before, during and after the storm. The film will necessarily show how regular people in the city dealt with the storm and its aftermath.
To top it off, this story will also be about an attractive couple involved in an intense and rocky romantic relationship with an unimaginable ending. As for that ending, good writers and directors will know how to push the envelope so as to just avoid the dreaded NC-17 rating.
This could make for a good film. But the real victims of the storm will be mere ciphers, helplessly waiting to be rescued. That is one of the things I would like about a film about this sad couple. They lived in the city before, during and after the storm. The film will necessarily show how regular people in the city dealt with the storm and its aftermath.
To top it off, this story will also be about an attractive couple involved in an intense and rocky romantic relationship with an unimaginable ending. As for that ending, good writers and directors will know how to push the envelope so as to just avoid the dreaded NC-17 rating.
The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living. Oliver Wendell Holmes
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I remember thinking as I read this sad case that it would make a good film, albeit messy and not for the squeamish. Something has to be made about Katrina, and we hope that it is not a GOP coverup film. It is as much a disaster as WTC on 9-11, but very few Americans have seen the gruesome pictures in any detail. We saw the disaster unfold on CBC and CTV, when ABC and the others were not featuring it. And the average American does not watch CNN, I will opine.
Many of you have heard about the very sad and tragic story of the young New Orleans couple, Adriane Hall and Zackery Bowen, who died when Bowen murdered Hall and then killed himself. I know this is inappropriate, given that these two families are still in shock and mourning, but I have been thinking the last couple of days that we may now have the framework of the perfect film to tell the story of what New Orleans went through during and after Katrina.
There are many articles on the internet about this event. Below is a link to the best one I found:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1904966.ece
The details are gruesome (dismemberment, cannibalism, then a suicide by jumping out of a window of a French Quarter hotel), but the real people were both very attractive. They met shortly before the storm hit. They appeared to be courageous people devoted to their adopted home helping their fellow survivors to hold out during the worst of the crisis. Accodring to friends, they developed an intense passion for each other, a passion fueled by what was going on around them.
During the period when these two are falling in love, the city is coming apart. You are all familiar with the lawlessness that was going on for several days after the storm. This couple's story could be a good means to tell that story as well.
As the city returned to normal their intense passion for each other manifested itself in more negative ways, like verbal and physical fights. Violent breakups followed by passionate lovemaking. Then the Grand Guignol finale.
I know there is nothing new about this story. But there will be some bad films made about Katrina. I am sure some lame TV movie is already in the can. This couple's story, in the hands of a good writer and director, could be something worth watching. And, given the time and place of their relationship, it can tell the story of the people of New Orleans during the crisis and recovery.
When I first saw photographs of Zackery Bowen, I was thinking Josh Hartnett. What about Addie Hall, the petite blonde who would flash her breasts at police officers so they would regularly patrol her neighborhood? Alison Lohman?
Many of you are in the film industry or know people in it. Better hurry. I'll bet someone is already working on this project.
There are many articles on the internet about this event. Below is a link to the best one I found:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1904966.ece
The details are gruesome (dismemberment, cannibalism, then a suicide by jumping out of a window of a French Quarter hotel), but the real people were both very attractive. They met shortly before the storm hit. They appeared to be courageous people devoted to their adopted home helping their fellow survivors to hold out during the worst of the crisis. Accodring to friends, they developed an intense passion for each other, a passion fueled by what was going on around them.
During the period when these two are falling in love, the city is coming apart. You are all familiar with the lawlessness that was going on for several days after the storm. This couple's story could be a good means to tell that story as well.
As the city returned to normal their intense passion for each other manifested itself in more negative ways, like verbal and physical fights. Violent breakups followed by passionate lovemaking. Then the Grand Guignol finale.
I know there is nothing new about this story. But there will be some bad films made about Katrina. I am sure some lame TV movie is already in the can. This couple's story, in the hands of a good writer and director, could be something worth watching. And, given the time and place of their relationship, it can tell the story of the people of New Orleans during the crisis and recovery.
When I first saw photographs of Zackery Bowen, I was thinking Josh Hartnett. What about Addie Hall, the petite blonde who would flash her breasts at police officers so they would regularly patrol her neighborhood? Alison Lohman?
Many of you are in the film industry or know people in it. Better hurry. I'll bet someone is already working on this project.
The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living. Oliver Wendell Holmes