Lest We Ever Forget...

Two unrelated (or, perhaps, unintentionally and faintly related) cinematic experiences in the past two days... both affecting me enough to share while still desperately trying to keep pace at work.

Everything Is Illuminated (IMDB, Amazon) -- The movie based loosely on a novel that started out as a non-fiction senior thesis project... readily available via Netflix and likely finer movie rental establishments.  A sublimely absurd search for meaning in the context of history -- in this case, the descendant of a Jewish Ukrainian who left his village days before the advancing German army wiped it off the map during World War II.  The Flash-heavy "official movie site" (and easter eggs) don't really do justice to the movie, and I gather that the novel (despite its day-glo covers) takes everything to yet another two or three levels (something I hope to learn first-hand, assuming I ever find the time to read books again).  Also of note, this film has an outstanding klezmer-fueled soundtrack -- my wife and I both commented on that fact (and usually we're trying to overlook soundtrack music).

When The Levees Broke (HBO) -- Damn.  We're within one week of the first anniversary of the devastation of New Orleans, and Spike Lee has chosen to commemorate that event with a harrowing documentary look at what's happened in that year.  The governmental incompetence remains mind-boggling, as does the depth and breadth of the suffering. I alternately cried and raged as it all happened in real time, and watching just the first evening of this 4-hour documentary brought me right back to that same place. Just hearing the context behind the amazing Ray Nagin / Garland Robinette interview (MP3 and transcript of the original experience) is justification for the price of my digital cable package.  Lee admirably sticks to the facts, bringing multiple perspectives and avoiding the overt populist spin one might have expected. If Acts III and IV are anything close to the opening half, this effort should become required viewing in civics and emergency preparedness and U.S. history classes now and for years to come.