If God Is Willing And Da Creek Don't Rise, A Spike Lee Documentary

HBO Television has a reputation of putting out some wonderful documentary films. I like most of them. I am also a fan of a recent contributor to the form, Spike Lee. With some anticipation, I was looking forward to the new documentary by HBO Documentary Films, a Spike Lee Joint; titled If God is Willing And Da Creek Don’t Rise. The Documentary looks at recent tragedies in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast area since Hurricane Katrina, up to and including, the BP Oil Spill. I had expectations from Spike Lee but I was also expecting, like his other works, some surprises that would leave me thinking and contemplating. I got what I expected, but I had many unanswered questions. I was left wondering where this film took a left turn and lost its vision.

Spike Lee is normally a wonderful story teller and a respected filmmaker. While this effort has all of the ingredients that Lee seems to excel at, camera angles, a good use of music, and interesting characters, it lacks a compelling thought provoking story. Unfortunately, Lee seems to lose some of his directorial skills. The story jumps from one place to another and the editing is somewhat lacking and interrupts the flow of the material making it difficult to watch, and frankly boring.

One of the things If God Is Willing, does is to focus on the humanity and tragedy of New Orleans. We see in many of the scenes, the destruction of the Gulf Coast. There is tragic footage that keeps the viewer anticipating the next scene, even though the commentary and flow creates boredom. When Lee is on, he is on, but there are scenes in this documentary that seems to be a blame game catering to certain political positions. There even seems to be an attempt to bring about disdain between states which have differing political parties in charge. While there are glimpses where it appears as if Lee is presenting a fact finding, fair representation, it soon ends as we see blame largely placed on Bush for Katrina. We see blame placed on the delayed actions, and at the same time, refuses to address in the same manner what many consider the slow response of Obama in the BP issue. There is likely much deserved blame to go around, but the obvious favoritism is evident in the criticism. To Spike Lee’s credit, there are moments of fairness but they are few. There just doesn’t seem to be a cohesive purpose to the story with the exception of how New Orleans and the people of Louisiana have been dumped on not just the political system, but many of the people of America.

Throughout If God is Willing…, Lee incorporates some positive things in the way people have responded to these disasters. We see actors Sean Penn and Brad Pitt along with the people of the region making a difference. Both of the actors come off in a positive light, especially Brad Pitt. Both are involved in not just trying to identify blame, but in doing something about the tragedies. The community that seems to be seen in the most positive light though is the Faith Community. There is the recognition, that in tragedy, sometimes all people have to turn to is their faith. We see the faith community drive much of recovery taking place. It was refreshing to see people come to the aid of their fellow man. It was also disheartening to see the government not been efficient in helping, or listening to the people. It is here that Spike Lee shines. When coming together, despite political differences, to serve others in need, we see hope. We also see what happens when one serves self as opposed to their community and fellow humans.

There are segments of this documentary that shine. When Lee is interacting or interviewing people who have been impacted by the tragedies, one can’t help but feel touched. The images of dead bodies are horrific as Lee uses these images to impact the emotion of the viewer. Unfortunately, the story never seems to have a point, or a solution. I felt more negatively about the experience than I did positive. I wanted more, I expected more, but I got less. I also expecting more from the special features of the DVD, especially since it is wonderfully packaged. Outside of commentary and a feature titled Pickin’ Up Da Pieces, I was disappointed as there was never really anything special about the ‘special features’.

It is here I find myself giving a cautious recommendation. While the documentary, despite its flaws is worth watching, I can’t recommend its purchase. I watched it once; I doubt I will watch it again. I do see the possibility of some good discussion topics especially in regards to the responsibilities of Government, and the need to address the question, ‘Why do bad things happen to good people’. As a documentary movie, I believe Spike Lee could have done better. I was rooting for this one; unfortunately I’ll have to look elsewhere for a compelling story and rendering of the events in the Gulf Coast. I will say this, I still respect Spike Lee enough, that if he were to do a feature film on the subject, I would be there opening day to see it. But this isn’t a feature, and it isn’t a film I can recommend outside of a rental and even then, most will likely be disappointed.

To see the interview with Spike Lee regarding this project click on the video. If the video isn’t at full scale or doesn’t show up, click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDegC5M4Z-k


Click here to read about, and order the book, The Keystone Kid

Click here to follow The Virtual Pew on Twitter

Mike Furches on Faceboook.

Click here to visit Mosaic Wichita, the Church in Wichita Kansas where Mike is the pastor.

Click Here to Go to The Virtual Pew Daily Verse and Read The Bible in a Year Passages

Click here for booking information to have Pastor Mike come speak or perform, from speaking to music or magic, something for all groups.

You can also Help The Virtual Pew by shopping on our web site or at Amazon, click here to shop at Amazon and help The Virtual Pew, it won't cost you anything extra, but we get a small percentage of the purchase.

Click to visit with Pastor Mike regarding any of your needs. He will respond to each request personally, and if need be refer you to one of our other pastors.

Click to visit and join the new group The Virtual Pew, at MySpace. Become a part of a different kind of Christian group, check out the page for more information,all welcome, including those who are not followers of Jesus.

Click to visit the Virtual Pew Website and become a part of that ministry.

Click to subscribe to my blog

Click to visit and join our sister group at MySpace Hollywood Jesus.

Click to visit Mary Jane Furches' new MySpace Page

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are hundreds of postings so make sure to check out the archives. You can also contact me for a free e-book pre edit version of The Keystone Kid at mike@thevirtualpew.comYou can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page down on the left side you sill see our store. Your purchase provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something to purchase you can click on the search engine, (do not put anything in the search box at this time). You will be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew.

Now I get asked this quite often, Can we repost your blogs or articles? The short answer to that is, what an honor that you would ask, and by all means, spread the word.Here is our contact information

The Virtual Pew
6441 N. Hydraulic
Park City Kansas, 67219

Click on the following links to learn more about The Virtual Pew

Donations to The Virtual Pew

The Virtual Pew

The Virtual Pew Blog

Personal Furches Web Site

Mary Jane Furches MySpace Page

Mike Furches MySpace Page

Mike Furches MySpace Blog

Hollywood Jesus

Reviews With Mike

The Virtual Pew Sermons

The Virtual Pew News

MySpace Hollywood Jesus Group

MySpace The Virtual Pew Group

The Virtual Pew Live Radio Web Page

To Subscribe to The Virtual Pew Live Feed