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When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

(2006, Rated NR, Documentary)

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 13, age appropriate for kids over 16; suggested age 16.

  • Is it any good?

    5.0

  • Common Sense says

    Spike Lee's masterful and disturbing Katrina docu.

updated 07.04.08

Why We Rated This on for Ages 16 and Up

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    People act heroically to save themselves and others in the face of a catastrophic storm and the inept government response. Elected officials act to save their political careers instead of the lives of people stuck and suffering in New Orleans.

  • Violence :

    Considerable graphic imagery of the fatal effects of the hurricane and levee breaks. People talk about watching others drown. There are numerous images of dead, bloated, and discolored corpses. An image of a woman hanging. A man talks about his mother dying waiting for buses to arrive at the Superdome, and images of dead people in wheelchairs. Talk of men who killed themselves in dispair after the hurricane. The documentary shows the funeral of a 5-year-old killed in the floods following the levee break. Aside from actual violence and death, there are numerous pictures of adults and children in dispair, crying and scared, as well as enraged. People attempting to escape the flood waters are prevented from crossing a bridge, using guns. A man describes being shot with buckshot. The New Orleans Police Chief talks about babies being raped during the fall-out of the flood.

  • Sex :

    One woman jokes that she'll have to "give someone a blow job" to get a FEMA trailer.

  • Language:

    Considerable salty language, including "hell," "s--t," various permutations of "f--k," "ass," "godd-mn," "bulls--t." A man tells Vice President Dick Cheney to "go f--k himself" and a woman says "President Bush can kiss my ass." A t-shirt says, "Run, motherf--er, run."

  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    A woman drinks a beer as she talks about her struggle through the flood and with the flood relief effort.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

Parents need to know that this documentary, about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, is understandably disturbing. There are multiple images of dead, decaying bodies, descriptions of death and suffering during and after the flood, as well as the deaths of children and the pain and anger at the government's response to the crisis. People are angry, grieving, and shell-shocked as the documentary goes on, and those strong emotions, as well as director Spike Lee's meticulous description of how government officials responded, are likely to be too intense for sensitive viewers.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about some of the ideas presented in the documentary. Do you believe, as some of the residents Lee interviewed do, that the government could have dynamited the levees to save richer neighborhoods? What role do you think race played in the way the levee breaches were handled? How do you think elected officials fared during the crisis? The documentary also offers a good opportunity to talk to teens about altruism, helping others, and how to recover from traumatic events.
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