DVD Review: Spike Lee’s ‘If God is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise’

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CHICAGO – Perhaps no American artist has chronicled a modern disaster with as much passion and meticulous attention to detail as Spike Lee. His 2006 documentary about the struggles of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts,” was television at its most vital, provocative, wrenchingly powerful and resoundingly humanistic.

The same could easily be said of Lee’s 2010 follow-up effort, “If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise.” It premiered the same year as HBO’s New Orleans-set series, “Treme,” and includes many of the same characters. Of course, in this case, no actors are involved, with the exception of New Orleans residents such as Make it Right project creator Brad Pitt and Phyllis Morton LeBlanc, who sets the tone with a stirring poem (as she did in “Levees”). Lee catches up with several subjects from his previous film, and discovers that some of them are no longer with us, including Hot 8 Brass Band founder Dinerral Shavers, who became yet another senseless casualty of the town’s escalating crime rate.

HollywoodChicago.com DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0
DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0

“Creek” opens with a celebratory roar as Saints fans celebrate the victory of a Super Bowl nearly five years after the disaster. As they did in “Levees,” cinematographer Cliff Charles and supervising editor Sam Pollard utilize multiple film stocks and a wealth of archival footage to present a multi-textured mosaic of the city and its inhabitants. Though Lee’s perspective is slanted, he allows various citizens and government officials to voice their opinions, even those he may not agree with. He undoubtedly sympathizes with the lower-class residents whose protest against the demolition of their homes is met with pepper spray and Tasers (it’s one of many “post-Katrina decisions” made in the best interest of developers). Many African Americans continue to feel discriminated against, leading them to be highly skeptical of outsider assistance. Superintendent Paul Vallas’ plans to build a charter school are repeatedly blocked, though his cause wasn’t much helped by secretary of education Arne Duncan, who declared that Katrina was “the best thing to happen” to New Orleans schools. In the early days following Katrina, Lt. Gen. Russell Honoré emerged as a heroic figure, ordering soldiers to put down their weapons, despite Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco’s ill-advised warning to looters that they will be shot on command (snipers were even dispatched to the area).

The people of New Orleans persevere in Spike Lee’s If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise.
The people of New Orleans persevere in Spike Lee’s If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise.
Photo credit: HBO Home Entertainment

Like “Levees,” the film runs roughly four hours and is split into two parts, yet it’s so compulsively watchable and thoroughly engaging that some viewers may end up watching it all in one go. Though the final estimated death toll hovered at around 1,582, it’s impossible to tell how many additional deaths were a result of the town’s deterioration. Carelessly crafted FEMA trailers rushed out to residents ended up carrying poisonous traces of formaldehyde. Disgraced FEMA director Michael Brown remembers wincing after being told by the president that he was doing a “heck of a job,” and confesses that he had no idea why the governmental response was so slow (a lengthy argument between Bush and Rumsfeld is cited as a possibility). When Katrina survivors in New Orleans view footage of the catastrophic Haitian earthquake, it evokes memories of the dead bodies that were strewn throughout the town for an untold number of days. Though Spike Lee tries to lighten the mood with a few comical asides, the predominate emotion conveyed by this film is one of mounting rage. Rage at arrogant ex-lobbyists like Mississippi governor Haley Barbour, who boasts that his “people aren’t into victimhood.” Rage at the overwhelming greed of BP, which will take “full responsibility for the clean up,” but never for their own record-breaking mess. Rage at a president unable to stand firmly for what he believes in. And yet, throughout it all, the perseverance and unbreakable spirit of New Orleans proves to be a profound inspiration.

If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise was released on DVD on April 19, 2011.
If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise was released on DVD on April 19, 2011.
Photo credit: HBO Home Entertainment

“If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise” is presented in its 16:9 aspect ratio, and includes a casually candid commentary by Lee, who allows his various opinions about the footage to flow freely. When a former New Orleans woman is seen standing outside her new home in Humble, Texas, where she moved for the sole purpose of providing her special needs child with a proper education, Lee exclaims, “Hoo-wee…who would want to live there?” When former police chief Eddie Compass appears on the screen, Lee laments about how the man’s outrageous false claims about abuse in the Superdome subsequently led to the tarnishing of his reputation. The filmmaker shares some of his most memorable insights during Ray Nagin’s interview, where the former mayor admitted that he could’ve sounded the warning bell much sooner (Nagin appeared unhappy with the interview in its aftermath). Lee notes that the brooding main theme (also used in “Levees”) was taken from his own 2006 thriller “Inside Man,” and was written by Terence Blanchard, who memorably guided his elderly mother through her ravaged house in “Levees.” Lee admits that he was originally planning to the end the film on an uplifting note, framing the final act around the Saints’ Super Bowl triumph. Yet after the BP oil spill occurred, Lee scrapped his plans entirely and scheduled seven more trips to New Orleans, shooting footage that would later be featured in the film’s restructured fourth hour.
 
The two-disc set also includes an excellent featurette, “Pickin’ Up da Pieces,” that expertly ties together nearly 70 minutes of additional interviews. There’s a gripping sequence in which two residents, Charles Inabnet and Angelamia Bachemin, recount their struggle to keep their heads literally above water. Charismatic activist M. Endesha Juakali recalls how there was a three-hour delay between the storm and the onslaught of water, which made its sudden presence all the more shocking. Wendell Pierce and LeBlanca gush about their experience of playing a couple on “Treme,” while Fred Johnson discusses the obstacles he ran up against when trying to educate local consumers (he’s the executive director of the New Orleans Neighborhood Development Foundation). Much of the featurette elaborates on segments from the final cut—there are more examples of police brutality (Mayor Mitch Landrieu deems the department “completely out of control”), more footage of Super Bowl celebrations, and more scenes of Sean Penn’s volunteer work in Haiti. In a chilling moment, Anderson Cooper discusses his conflicting feelings when forced to abandon a vital story due to sagging ratings. It’s clear that American viewers quickly tire of a repetitive news item, unless it involves the royal wedding.

‘If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise’ is released by HBO Home Entertainment and is directed by Spike Lee. It was released on April 19, 2011. It is rated TV-14.

HollywoodChicago.com staff writer Matt Fagerholm

By MATT FAGERHOLM
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
matt@hollywoodchicago.com

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