Review of Trouble the Water (2008) by Michael L — 08 May 2009

Political documentaries are always tricky. They're rarely without bias, and therefore it alienates both the audience that disagrees and the people that do agree but aren't interested in a one-sided argument. How many times, for instance, can we hear a completely distant observer proclaim his distaste for the war in Iraq? We don't care because he wasn't on the frontlines, nor is he providing any insight outside of the frustrations millions of Americans share. "Trouble the Water", however, is an enormously political film, and it's one that both parties can completely sympathize with. We are dealing with people that are on "the frontline", and we see with our own eyes as human beings are treated like pests. We're compelled, outraged, and completely moved by the tremendous display of the human spirit.

A few days before Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, a 24-year-old woman named Kimberly Roberts purchased a camcorder from a street hustler for $20. Neither her, her boyfriend, Scott, or several other family members and friends were able to leave their doomed hometown. With no car and no public transportation, it was clear that they were simply left for dead. Kimberly, able to show this distress to the world, not only shows us the impending dread of the days leading up to the hurricane, but the hurricane itself. We see people crowded together in an attic as the water is close to reaching the window. When Kimberly calls for help, she's told that there's no rescue teams being sent out. She yells in frustration that there's a baby in the attic. She cries knowing that she is being left to die. The reaction of the operator on the other line, whoever the person may be, is one of the most heartbreaking things in the film. We get the sense that she's just as frustrated as the Roberts' family and everyone watching the film, but she is left to deliver the messages of an incompetent government.

The aftermath shows Kimberly and Scott walking through their destroyed town. Dead dogs lay in the street, flies feast on the flesh of rotting corpses in their homes. It's a nightmare. When several of the survivors go to a nearby Navy base for refuge, they're turned away at gunpoint. The gates are locked and guarded by soldiers with M-16's, although hundreds of empty beds are seen through the windows.

The film succeeds entirely because of it's two heroes. Kimberly's passionate rants about her will to survive and, at one point, a defiant rap song sung with an unmatched intensity, make her a subject documentary filmmakers could only dream about. "Trouble the Water" is both infuriating and inspirational, depressing and hopeful. For those uninterested in the facade of mainstream news coverage, "Trouble the Water" is a gritty and real look at the true grim realities of Hurricane Katrina. It's worth watching if only to understand the horrors of the hurricane, or the more infuriating tragedy: the lack of government response.