Kleenex is advised. Mainly for the emotion you will feel at the astonishing selflessness and unquestioning devotion on the part of thousands of volunteers to ensuring the safety, health, and happiness of tens of thousands of animals stranded and marooned by Hurricane Katrina. Tom McPhee’s multiple-award-winning documentary film chronicles the heroic efforts to retrieve beloved pets owners were required by officialdom to leave behind in the aftermath of the storm. The tone is mostly upbeat, though there are sequences about bureaucracy and brutality that give one pause for serious thought. The soundtrack is hip and contemporary. The final segment focuses on Barkus, a pet parade in New Orleans celebrating the rescue mission’s triumph and man’s deep connection to the Animal Kingdom.
**** Four (bold) Stars
“An American Opera” is being shown in collaboration with area SPCAs at Foothills Performing Arts Center on Monday 28 September. Doors open at 7 PM for a Pre-Show Forum. Screening at 8.
I was lucky enough to have attended Foothills showing of An American Opera last night. It was Monday Movie Night, but it was also an event for the community. Several local shelters had representatives there, as well as some of the animals that actually were waiting to be adopted. Even got to meet Jackson, a black lab who is a Katrina rescued dog.
The movie was indeed upbeat and a wonderful testimony to how Americans can come together when there is great need to “help”. We had all heard of the pet rescue effort after the hurricane, but here we got to see the huge effort and actual amount of work involved. Even if one was not an animal lover they would be touched.
Tom McPhee did a wonderful job on this film!