MOVIE REVIEW: Greensburg
By: Scott Rader
5/2/2008
Greensburg airs at 7 p.m. Sunday PBS.
Most of us felt something when the category EF5 tornado, the worst
tornado ever recorded, hit Greensburg, KS. Maybe it was grief for the
victims. Maybe it was more personal. Maybe we knew someone from there.
Maybe we've been to the World's Largest Hand Dug Well. Maybe we weren't
personally affected, but we felt something for the town.
That seems to be the purpose of Brian Schodorf's documentary
Greensburg. It isn't so much informational about what happened on May
4th, 2007. There is very little information. It's more about the
emotion. Seeing the devastated town. Hearing what people lost.
It especially focuses on Sarah Schmidt, whose husband was killed during
the disaster. Her story is one of hope. She doesn't feel sorry for
herself. She doesn't dwell on her husband's death. She just picks up
the pieces and moves on.
The same can be said for the town of Greensburg. They found a way to
rebuild and they went for it. We'll see how green Greensburg turns out.
But they certainly didn't spend much time dwelling on the tragedy.
So
it's a little annoying that Schodorf does dwell. He manipulates and
massages every last emotion out of his documentary. He wants us to cry
and weep for Greensburg, when they aren't even weeping for themselves.
What happened to them was tragedy for sure, something they'll never
recover from, but they are looking forward. This documentary succeeds
most when it does too. This story needs to be told, but Schodorf could
have done a better service to the town with his documentary. He could
have been a little more hopeful and a little less sappy. It also could
have used more of the soothing voice and sure-headed wisdom of Bill
Kurtis. That would have made Greensburg a real testament to the people
of the town.
