That moment of hope is fleeting but important. A clear blue sky has never looked so welcome. But all is not lost: Suddenly we’re in a car that passes through a thick cloud of smoke and ash and then emerges, miraculously, into daylight on the other side. The on-the-ground footage we see is as awful as what we hear: As flames lick at driveways and engulf crumbling buildings, as embers rain down on fleeing vehicles, we seem trapped in a conflagration so mighty and all-consuming that the entire world has turned black and orange. 8, 2018, the day the Camp fire, the deadliest wildfire in California history, destroyed the Butte County town of Paradise. Through it all we hear a succession of human voices, trying to remain steady but finally abandoning any pretense of calm: “Please, we need your help, Lord,” a woman prays. The loud, 40-mph gusts we hear are a grim omen, and they soon merge with other noises - anxious radio chatter, screaming sirens, the crackle of flames, the pop-pop of exploding tires - to form a chorus of fast-mounting dread. The sound of wind is rarely as sinister as it is at the beginning of “Rebuilding Paradise,” Ron Howard’s harrowing and heartrending new documentary.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |