Spanish Lake

2014

Action / Documentary

Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 67% · 5 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 67% · 50 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 227 227

Plot summary

A bold and unflinching documentary on 'white flight' in the area of Spanish Lake, Missouri, a post WW2 suburb. The town experiences rapid economic decline and population turnover due to racism and governmental policies which support the white exodus. The themes of the film parallel America's growing political divide, racial tension, and rise of anti-government sentiment.

Director

Phillip Andrew Morton Photo
Phillip Andrew Morton

Top cast

Gerald Ford Photo
Gerald Ford as Self - President
Milton Bischof Photo
Milton Bischof as Self - St. Louis County Council
Roy Pierce Photo
Roy Pierce as Self - Director, St. Louis HUD Office
Mark Loizeaux Photo
Mark Loizeaux as Self - Controlled Demolition Inc.
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
718.93 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us   fr  
23.976 fps
1 hr 18 min
Seeds ...
1.44 GB
1920*1072
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us   fr  
23.976 fps
1 hr 18 min
Seeds ...

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by TxMike

The changing demographics of a small Missouri community.

Reviewed by michaelberanek275 10 / 10

"This is my life"... A Story for America

How surprised was I to find amongst countless low-grade purient crime documentaries on Rakuten TV this sensitive and thoughtful social, economic & political history of a proud and beautiful in part little province of Missouri, from it's origin in the early 19th century to recent years. Using countless interviews with first-hand experiences of real locals, and some intelligent expert & official analysis. The Spanish Lake story forms a microcosm of America over the period, with the merciless effect of deindustrialization, Regan/Clinton-era housing boom financialisation and the build-up to the inevitable crisis of 2008 affecting local mortgage holders. Apart from the economic narrative there's the cultural phenomenon of 'white flight', the effects of civil rights legislation and the impact of housing & integration policies on these poorer white working-class - identifying as ''middle class" - suburbs. You get a complex picture of flux - with a corresponding kind of black flight from poorly planned projects and slum developments in St. Louis into the neighbouring suburbs assisted by the Johnson administration voucher projects - "Section 8". It's an issue most complex and sensitive, but the ebullient stories of likable local people and their stoic humour helps to lift and humanise the discourse. My impression is that the main drivers of the cultural strife are the underlying tectonic socio-economic shifts affecting the population - both black and white - least empowered to do much about directing their own destiny and fostering more wholesome family & community life. The ensueing effects of chronic underinvestment in infrastructure & public facilities (apart from in police, at war with crime) are all made obvious in the story. It could have been a dream of a successful 'melting-pot', but in many respects became a nightmare. Now this mirrors the whole US political landscape today and informs the success of popular demagoguery tapping into the insecurities and fears of so many folk whose economy has been pulled out from under them by neoliberals who have for too long abandoned any proper national industral strategy for all the people. There are glimmers of optimism in more recent community activism and frameworks being built for supporting civil society, an inspiring Lakers tribute band, but sadness and regret seems to predominate.The way such a multifaceted history is condensed in only 84 minutes is quite a tribute to the production team. I couldn't recommend this little family Polaroid snapshot of American political economy any higher.
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