New Orleans

New Orleans is a fantastic setting for a story. I’ve written in the past about the way that my time in New Orleans has informed my writing, but it obviously affects others in powerful ways.

I’ll refrain from trying to guess at all of the reasons why it is such an immensely popular, but I will say that New Orleans brings together a number of cultures in one setting. The resulting mix of people and influences gives the city a unique look and culture. For instance, I can’t think of any other city in the United States that incorporates a French influence as much, and French is only a portion of the city.

In any case, I’ve put together a list here of some of my favorite New Orleans movies and comic books. These stories depend on the city of New Orleans to tell the story. It’s not just a generic backdrop. It is a character in its own right.

This is not an exhaustive list. I will continue to add to it as I find new movies and books and as I go back through some movies and books. For instance, I enjoyed both Pelican Brief and Deja Vu, but I don’t remember enough about them at the moment to give my thoughts.

Enough delay… here are my favorite New Orleans stories… for now.

Movies

New Orleans is a city that grows more popular with the movie industry every year. Even if the story is not set in New Orleans, movie crews can still capitalize on available studio space and warmer weather during cooler months. A few of the major blockbusters at least partially filmed here include Green Lantern (not out yet, but likely to be huge), The Expendables, RED, Wolverine, Jonah Hex, and the Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Here are the movies that I’ve enjoyed most that prominently feature the Crescent City.

Easy Rider

Easy Rider is obviously about a trek through the country, so New Orleans can hardly claim it all to itself. This film was filled with beautiful scenery of the American West and South, but the final portion of the film always stands out the most in my memory. This was probably one of the first films I saw featuring New Orleans, and the tripped out drug sequence with trips through the cemeteries and Bourbon Street and the rest of the French Quarter blew my mind.

The point of the movie is all about commentary on the nation during this transitional period, but seeing a gritty, hazed view of New Orleans was stunning. The effects and shots used in the film still hold up today because of their artistic quality.

Runaway Jury

I won’t try to rank this John Grisham adaptation as one of the great movies of all time, but it does a great job capturing the feel of the French Quarter. The main character lives in an apartment in the Quarter. The walls look rough, and the building’s interior could use some serious renovation. Then he walks into his building’s picturesque courtyard, and you can see why people want these apartments so badly.

The movie is good, and the script does a great job of piecing out the information and keeping viewers intrigued throughout.

Comics

Since moving to Louisiana, I’ve come across three books that depend on the city as a setting and capture the feel of the city well.

New Orleans After the Deluge

After the Deluge has to come first on this list since it is a collection of experiences from Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. If you’ve ever wondered why people decided to stay in the city with an enormous hurricane barreling their way, you should take a look at this book. Some people don’t have a single decent reason, but there are doctors and hospital staff that had to stay. There are people who feared (rightfully so) that their businesses would be looted without someone to stand guard.

After the Deluge humanizes the storm and helps readers understand what really happened through it all. The city survived the passing of the storm, but the failure of the levies afterwards proved to be catastrophic.

NOLA

NOLA by Chris Gorak, Pierluigi Cothran, and Damian Couceiro is the story of a woman involved in a terrible car crash just before Hurricane Katrina hit. Like the Walking Dead comic book and TV series, the lead character went into the hospital with a serious injury and awoke to find and empty hospital and a world fundamentally changed.

Though there are no superheroes or capes and tights present in the series, lead character Nola Thomas bore a resemblance to the Punisher in her relentless pursuit of the person that put her in that terrible car wreck. Sometimes controversial and always entertaining, NOLA was an interesting read that captured the grittiness and color-palette of a city covered in grimy water.

Sweets

As of this writing, Sweets is a comic book mini-series still available only in issue format, but I cannot wait to get the collected edition. Sweets is the story of a detective attempting to wrap up a serial killer case before a hurricane strikes the city and shuts it down. (Seeing a theme with hurricanes here?)

This book tells a great story, but Kody Chamberlain’s art is what makes this book stand apart from other crime comic books and even television series. Chamberlain does not employ a straight-ahead telling of the narrative. Rather, he uses different art styles and color tones to suggest that one storyline takes place in a character’s childhood. Another storyline relies on the use of black and white and greytone to convey the stark views of the killer as he commits his crimes.

Sweets may not seem like a flattering portrayal of the city, but there is evident care here to depict the “feel” of the city. Landmarks are recognizable though heavily stylized. We see the world through Chamberlain’s artistic eye, and it is a beautiful place.