In New Orleans, Louisiana, funeral parades and celebrations are common and expected. These are steeped in tradition going back to the early days of settlers and slaves. This film explores these and other traditions in New Orleans through the eyes of multiple people with different backgrounds.
Written and directed by Jason Berry, City of a Million Dreams takes a look at New Orleans as a place of music, art, and inspiration. It shows the city going through funerals as a group, life celebrations, hurricane Katrina, and so much more. Berry takes a city most have associated with partying, booze, boobs, and hauntings, and showed a completely different side of it, the side of its residents more than the touristic side of this. It’s this that makes the film feel personal, that gives New Orleans a life beyond the surface. Here the film goes in depth with some of its subjects and is not afraid to discuss hard subjects like shootings, cancer, disasters. The film takes New Orleans and makes it more than just a shiny toy for visitors, it takes it and makes it a place where humans live, suffer, and thrive.
The folx speaking here are varied and most of them born and raised in the city. The interviews are varied with newer ones and archival interviews mixed with footage taken for the film as well as archival footage. With this, the film creates a good balance of old and new, old school and modern. It also looks into the history of Louisiana from the first settlers and how slaves influenced traditions still going to this day. The film is well-rounded in how it brings facts and lets people speak to bring more information as well as letting them voice their opinions. The voice over style isn’t a favorite here, but it’s not the worse there is. It’s a necessity in this context, even if it’s not always most loved by viewers.
The film here is filmed and edited in a style that works for the documentary’s theme and information therein. The cinematography by Harris Done is good and lets the subjects speak for themselves, giving them room to be themselves and speak freely. The film is very much well shot and well edited.
City of a Million Dreams is admittedly of limited interest to those who do not love documentaries. However, for those who do, this is a really good one and one that should also be checked out by history buffs, fans of music, and those of New Orleans. It’s a good view into the city and its traditions beyond what is usually shown in films and entertainment.