Trouble the Water
- Posted: 25th Mar 2010
- Category: Reviews
Several filmmakers have tried to make sense of the chaos caused by hurricane Katrina and give voice to the outrage felt in its wake. Trouble the Water is a bit different. Rather than take a sweeping overview of events, it takes us deep down into the New Orleans slums to reveal the struggles of real people whose problems go beyond the rising flood waters.The 9th Ward is one of the most deprived areas of the state. Without their own transport, residents Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her husband Scott have no means of leaving the city when the call to evacuate comes. With her new camcorder, Kimberly records the events leading up to the disaster and the chaos that follows, which sees her taking shelter in her own attic to escape the rising water.
Carl Deal and Tia Lessin have been the producers of many Michael Moore projects. In this, their first full length feature as directors, they’ve chosen not to take his confrontational approach, and let Scott and Kimberly tell the story in their own engaging and inimitable way. We follow them as they return to their home in the weeks after the flood. Much of what they discover and the events that they describe, are truly shocking.
They find an elderly relative lying dead in his home, overlooked by the disorganised National Guard. They visit an abandoned military base with dozens of empty rooms. People went there for shelter during the disaster, only for the guards to point their guns and threaten to shoot them if they attempted to enter.
The film could easily get bogged down in despair, but neither Kimberly nor Scott will allow it. Kimberly is an aspiring rapper. Her music was thought destroyed, but she finds a copy amongst the wreckage. It reveals a true life story of what life was like growing up in poverty and just how far she has come already. What we begin to realise, is that the film isn’t just about a hurricane; it’s about the deep social divisions in America. These people weren’t just abandoned in the face of Katrina, they were left to fend for themselves a long time ago. Yet Kimberly and Scott go on, with a strength and optimism that is truly inspiring and heart warming.Trouble the Water is a special film. It tells a simple story about real people, but one that reveals a great deal about the country that they live in. It has scenes of unforgettable drama and scenes of unbelievable human disregard. It doesn’t preach; it is ultimately very optimistic, a feat quite unexpected in the face of such disaster and betrayal.
Dir: Tia Lessin & Carl Deal, US 2008, 90 mins
www.troublethewaterfilm.com
Trouble the Water is now available on DVD. For more details see ICA Films
Read David Paul Nixon's interview with directors Carl Deal and Tia Lessin in DFGDocs/Articles.
Trouble the Water is now available on DVD. For more details see ICA Films
Read David Paul Nixon's interview with directors Carl Deal and Tia Lessin in DFGDocs/Articles.