"A-" Rating by Robert W. Hammerle

The excruciatingly exquisite "Trouble the Water" forces the moviegoer to see the underbelly of America that should shame us all. For anyone claiming that the spectacular election of Barack Obama as our President proves that race no longer matters in this country, take a look at this Sundance Festival Award Winner and think again.

"Trouble the Water" tells the tragic story of Hurricane Katrina and the people who were left behind to experience its wrath. Nearly all of them poor African Americans, they were left to fight for their homes and lives while our Government looked the other way.

No matter how objective one tries to be, it is impossible to do anything but condemn President Bush and his Administration for their ineptitude in handling this disaster. Along with his hand picked head of FEMA, Michael "You're doing a heck of a job Brownie" Brown, they were a study of bungling indifference from beginning to end.

There is a startling scene early in this documentary where President Bush is being interviewed in Arizona while Katrina hit. Smugly offering meaningless advice, he ends with the statement, "The country is praying for you."

That moment crystallizes the pandering nature of the Bush Administration as it relates to most of the problems this country has faced during the last 8 years. Do nothing, but we'll pray for you.

But setting aside for a moment the Bush Administration's profound ineptitude concerning helping Americans in need, this story belongs to the poor souls who were ravaged in New Orleans by the hurricane. Over 100,000 people stayed behind despite the Government's order to evacuate. If you will recall the political debate at the time, these people were widely ridiculed for failing to listen to admonitions of doom.

What this searing documentary reveals are the consequences flowing from the immobility of the poor and disabled. In other words, if the Government will not provide the means to flee and funds to stay at the new destination, how can they be expected to leave home?

The story of the virtual destruction of much of New Orleans by Katrina is told through the eyes of a couple who stayed behind with their own little video camera. Scott and Kimberly Roberts were residents of the 9th Ward and they videotaped the horror that wiped out their lives and homes. Forced to flee to their attic as the levies gave way and the waters rose to the rooftops, it is a minor miracle that they and others like them survived.

The scenes of devastation are heartbreaking. In one case, a son describes how his mother died in a hospital where she was abandoned without any type of support services. Another family suffers untold anguish as they try to learn of a loved one who is incarcerated in the county jail on a misdemeanor charge. We subsequently learn that the inmates were left alone in their cells without any food or water as the guards fled to safety.

If indeed we believe as a country in the fundamental principle that all men are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights, then that means that our Government has to play a role in caring for those that can't care for themselves. This documentary vividly demonstrates how our Government abandoned any semblance of belief in that core principle.

To this day, how do you rationalize leaving the poor behind to die in their attics with absolutely no rescue services available for days? How do you explain the military forcing thousands away from an abandoned Naval Base at gunpoint for no valid reason of any kind? Republican or Democrat, what possible excuse was there for FEMA to permit tens of thousands of largely black residents of New Orleans to live in squalor in the Superdome and on various bridges throughout the city without adequate water or sanitation services?

Even worse, look at the actions of the Bush Administration when it finally did respond. The devastated poor areas of New Orleans, including the 9th Ward, were basically left in squalor while government funds were used to rebuild the French Quarter to once again attract largely white tourists.

When FEMA belatedly provided trailers for the homeless to live in, it turned out that these same trailers were lined with lethal formaldehyde. While I don't pretend to speak for history, I will go to my grave convinced that George Bush will go down in history with Warren Harding as the two most inept and incompetent Presidents to occupy the Oval Office.

As we follow the struggle of the Roberts and others like them, we gain a little understanding about the resiliency of Americans in particular, and the human race in general. Poor people banded together not just to save themselves, but also to save their pets. It is a testament to the human spirit that those with so little never gave up.

It is now clear that we must remember the disaster of Katrina just as we do that of 9/11. While the loss of lives on 9/11 was greater, Katrina left a trail of devastation that in many ways is more lasting in its impact. Simply put, if Katrina had been a terrorist's act, what would we say about our Government's failure to act in general and the Bush Administration's malfeasance in particular?

Sadly, this documentary is far too somber to expect many Americans to pay to see it in a theater. After all, who wants to be reminded of this tragedy if we can avoid it, particularly since it only afflicted the poor and the powerless?

However, despite the uncomfortable subject matter of "Trouble the Water," the incredible music will provide a reward that few viewers are likely to anticipate. The soundtrack is a combination of blues, gospel and "hip-hop" that gives this documentary a rich texture that I won't try to describe further.

Suffice it to say that Ms. Roberts turns out to be a musician of note in her own right, and the moving featured song which gives this documentary its name is sung by her group, Black Kold Madina. They also sing another song entitled "Amazing," and it truly is. This documentary and its soundtrack are likely to send an arrow right through your social consciousness.