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TIMESTAMPS The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20090621150412/http://www.sfgate.com:80/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/21/DDGD7KLKB21.DTL🔗 Article:‘WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE’ / Sense of shame, injustice spu:/c/a/2006/08/21/DDGD7KLKB21.DTL Article:‘WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE’ / Sense of shame, injustice spu:/c/a/2006/08/21/DDGD7KLKB21.DTL SFGate Home of the San Francisco Chronicle Home Delivery | Subscriber Services Home News Sports Business Entertainment Food Living Travel Columns Classifieds Jobs Homes Cars Close [X]Quick links to the best of SFGate | Still can’t find it? see Site Index News » Today Breaking News Live Views Traffic Weather Sections Bay Area & State Business Chronicle Magazine Crime Education Green Health & Medicine Nation Obituaries Opinion Politics Science Style Technology Weird News World Sports » 49ers Raiders Giants Athletics Warriors Sharks More BayList Blogs Chronicle Watch City Brights Columnists Comics Data Center Earthquakes Lottery Maps Polls Reader Views Small Business Volunteering Features Food » Bargain Bites Recipes Restaurant Reviews Top 100 Restaurants Wine Travel » Hawaii Mexico SF Guide Weekend Getaways Wine Country Reno & Tahoe Living » Gay & Lesbian Home & Garden Moms Outdoors Pets SFiS Ski & Snow Entertainment » Art Books Horoscope Local Bands Live Music Local Events Movie Showtimes Movies Theater Reviews Things To Do TV & Radio Classifieds » Advertise With Us Cars Real Estate Jobs Merchandise Personals Pets Public Notices Rentals Movies Music & Nightlife Performance Art Events Books TV & Radio Horoscope Comics Things To Do ‘WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE’ Sense of shame, injustice spurred Lee into action Jay Dixit, Special to The Chronicle Monday, August 21, 2006 E-mail del.icio.us Digg Technorati Reddit Facebook Slashdot Fark Newsvine Google Bookmarks Comments Font | Size: In his two decades of making films, Spike Lee has earned a reputation as one of the most brilliant – and angriest – American directors. But he doesn’t see himself as an angry person. “That’s not me,” Lee says. “That’s the way I’ve been portrayed.” Images View Larger Image Spike Lee Review: ‘When the Levees Broke’ Sense of shame, injustice spurred Lee into action Terence Blanchard scores the documentary The people who have met him think otherwise – as would most people who’ve seen his movies, scorching commentaries on racial tensions in this country. Chris Rock has called him “the maddest black man in America.” New York magazine called him “the angriest auteur.” Even “Spike” is a nickname given to him by his mother for being difficult. Few could fail to feel the anger that smolders at the core of his latest project, “When the Levees Broke,” a four-part documentary about New Orleans. The movie – his fourth documentary – examines the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, cataloging the human toll, indicting the governmental response and giving voice to the men and women who lost their loved ones. The Chronicle spoke to Lee about what led to the creation of his latest project. Where were you when Hurricane Katrina hit, and what was going through your mind as you saw those images? I was in Venice, Italy, for the Venice Film Festival. And it was just hard for me to believe that these images were happening in America. I was angry. Because as the days went on, I was like, “Where’s the federal government?” I was being grilled by the European press. And they were asking me, “How could this happen in your country?” These images looked like they were coming from Africa, not the United States of America, the almighty power, world power, superpower. How did that make you feel as an American? I was ashamed. I was ashamed of the administration of this country, that they were literally leaving people hanging, dangling in the wind. You have a reputation for making movies that address race. Is that why you got involved with this project? No. Reputation and what’s real are two different things. It was evident to me early on that this is not just about race. This is about class, too. So did you take it on because race and class are things you deal with in your movies, and this was a way you could address them, lay bare some of these issues? No, that’s not really the reason. I knew this was going to be a historical moment in American history, and I wanted to document it. Of course race and class is part of that. But that wasn’t the impetus for me doing this thing. When did you actually arrive in New Orleans, and what was it like when you got there? We stepped foot in New Orleans the day after Thanksgiving and even seeing stuff on television, seeing pictures in newspapers and magazines did not prepare me for the devastation. The scale. It’s hard to get scale on TV and in photographs. How do you see what happened in New Orleans – and the federal government’s response – within the broader context of the history of African Americans? It was not on the agenda. It was not a priority. Do you think films with a message make a difference – in the short term or cumulatively? Depends on the film, depends on the time. I remember this film “The Thin Blue Line.” (Director) Errol Morris got a guy off death row. And when I saw “Fahrenheit 9/11,” I thought for sure there’s no way in the world Bush would be able to win after this film. And I was wrong. So you never know. Did you have a model in mind when you were making this film? No model. I like Errol Morris, I like Michael Moore too, but we didn’t have those guys in mind. We weren’t trying to model after anybody, we were just trying to tell the story. That was the most important thing. Michael Moore uses narration. Michael Moore puts himself in front of the camera. We don’t do that. Tell me about that choice. Why is it that you don’t appear? Why is it that you don’t have voiceover? Don’t like it. It’s just a stylistic choice. I’m not saying one’s right and one’s wrong. For me, aesthetically and stylistically, I don’t need to be in front of the camera. And I don’t want to have the narration tell people what to think. I just want to have the people tell their stories. What was the story that most surprised you in filming this movie? Everything was a surprise. I went down there to be surprised, I went down there to learn, I went down there to document the story and put it together. Did you feel like there were parallels between shooting this movie after Hurricane Katrina and shooting “25th Hour” after 9/11? No, that never entered my mind. “25th Hour” was fiction. Edward Norton did not lose his mother, did not lose his daughter. Do you think the errors and mismanagement in New Orleans have been adequately redressed? If it was up to me, somebody’d be in prison. But it’s not up to me. Who? Give me somebody. I know I’m being symbolic, but still. Because what happened there was a criminal act, and people lost loved ones because of the incompetence of the Army Corps of Engineers. That brought about the devastation, and not Hurricane Katrina. Are you making a political statement? How could politics not be part of this? I don’t understand that question. How could politics not be part of that? I think it was a political decision that they showed up five days later. I think it was a political decision that Bush chose to fly over instead of putting his feet on the ground, so how could politics not be a part of this? Why do you think that happened? I think you pay attention to things you care about. You pay attention to things that have a priority. Things that aren’t a priority, that aren’t on your agenda, you don’t deal with. What are you going to take away from this experience? I met a bunch of great people and we’ll be friends forever. Were there stories from this that you may want to tell in the future as a fiction film? I can’t say that. I’m just happy I was given the chance to do this as a documentary. I felt that was the right choice, to do this as a documentary, not a narrative. Why did you want to do this movie as a documentary rather than a narrative? Why should I get an actor to fake playing losing their 5-year-old daughter when you could have the real person? I don’t understand that. What in making this movie struck you about ordinary people? I have the most respect for ordinary people. So it was my duty as a filmmaker to just show who these people are that are the backbone of the country. We wanted to get their voice. Were people more open with you because they knew your name and know the credibility you have as an African American director? Oh, that helped me very much. People were very open to speaking to me. Maybe ‘cause they’ve seen my films, they know who I am, they respect my work, so they were very candid and very open, discussing very difficult things. How did you feel asking people to talk about these things that were so painful? It’s a very hard thing to do. I did all the interviews. It’s something I got experience on doing “4 Little Girls” where I had to ask those parents about their children who died in a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama back in 1963. But you gotta do it. You gotta do it. This article appeared on page F - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle E-mail del.icio.us Digg Technorati Reddit Facebook Slashdot Fark Newsvine Google Bookmarks Comments Most Recommended Comments View Comments (0) Yoga teacher bends rule for love Dads pass on outdoor passion Drivers become road worriers Gallery: Share your pics of Dad Michelle mania begins in S.F. 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