[yasr_overall_rating]
Documentary about the many well-known New Orleans musicians who were forced to leave the city by Hurricane Katrina, where they wound up, how (and if) they plan to return to the city. Also shown are many landmark nightclubs and other well-known spots that were damaged or destroyed by Katrina.
This music documentary was filmed by Robert Mugge in 2006 as a document of the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina. The film has now been given a Blu-ray edition with some wonderful special features. There is a weight and gravity to this film about the devastation of New Orleans that even now, ten years later, still makes me feel sad.
There is no real story structure or documentary arc. The film is a collection of footage filmed about various bars and bands in the New Orleans area. The overall tenor of the documentary still suggests the desperation of New Orleans’ denizens who were forced to pick up and carry on. There are still moments of bright purple headdresses, voodoo ceremonies, and skulls that hint at the New Orleans that were the primary association made by foreigners to the city prior to Katrina. The documentary captures the devastated musicians who lived in the wreckage and continued to play. Sometimes these performances are great. Other times, they are not.
The legendary and perhaps best known New Orleans performer, Dr. John (who played with Van Morrison and was the inspiration for the Muppet’s Doctor Teeth, two huge accomplishments in my book), although he does not appear to be creating new music so much as re-adapting the previous classics he has also written to post-wreckage New Orleans. There are two astonishingly good cover songs in the documentary: Theresa Andersson’s version of Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane” and Marcia Ball’s devastating version of Randy Newman’s “Louisiana 1927.” These are very fine musicians, but not musicians at the top of their art. Look in their eyes. Read their body language. These are broken down people filmed in the middle of chaos.
“New Orleans Music in Exile” is better than “The Concert for Hurricane Relief,” which is the only other Katrina music documentary of which I am aware. The documentary that I wish someone would someday make would document the lives of musicians who have heavily associated with New Orleans and managed to revitalize their career and music after Katrina including Lucinda Williams, Randy Newman, Jerry Lee Lewis, and dozens of others.
In “New Orleans Music in Exile,” we encounter dozens of musicians who have bad memories and are clinging on for survival. The direction is mostly limited to medium shots of performances and closeups for interviews. So why would I give this film four stars? The cover songs that are good are great and the film is such a revealing document of such a trying time in the modern history of this country.
Available now on Blu-ray, DVD & On Demand
