Looking to bring a significant American disaster back into the public eye filmmaker Mark Bussler has created the documentary Johnstown Flood, which follows the events leading up to a calamity that took over two-thousand lives. Certainly this is one of the most tragic natural disasters in history but what makes it a compelling subject is how complicitous people were in bringing it about.

Without going into too much detail, the Johnstown flood was partly brought on by human ignorance and poor-planning. Johnstown was a bustling mining and mill community, and was home to industrial and social stratification, with iron workers living in flimsy housing along the river and railroad and iron barons using the area as a playground. The South Fork Dam, which was at the heart of the flood, was patched cheaply and poorly over the years, having key water control pipes removed and sold for scrap. The elite South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club stocked the resulting lake with fish and blocked the crucial spillway to prevent them from escaping. These sorts of decisions directly caused the dam to fail and the flood to destroy several towns, most spectacularly Johnstown. So, this becomes a man-made natural disaster.

Bussler takes a very focused approach to the subject matter: The film is about the Johnstown flood and nothing else. It's a very specific slice of history which will be of interest to some and boring to others. There isn't necessarily a "big picture" here, which makes sense. After all, documenting a flood isn't the same as a war. There are some whose decisions harmed others here but it's not like they were dastardly villains.

Bussler does try to utilize some unusual techniques for a documentary. At first the piece feels like a traditional television documentary: Still images, voice-over and lots of back story. Once the events of the flood are set in motion, however, he attempts to weave a dense tapestry of characters and atmosphere. He employs actors to play certain real-life folk who either survived or died in the flood. These sequences are shot in silky black-and-white and are effective until the actors start to speak. They don't feel right for the period and when they address the camera directly they sound amateurish.

Bussler also uses footage from old films and newly shot video of rushing water to try to add a chaotic, kinetic feel to the film. This is a tricky tactic. At times it makes the film more energetic and dangerous but it also tends to make it more amateurish. In their epic documentaries Ken and Ric Burns tend to go the opposite direction, slowing down the pace during scenes of mass hysteria, aiming for a mournful quality. Bussler should be commended for attempting to bring you-are-there urgency to his film, but it doesn't always work.

VIDEO:
The widescreen anamorphic video is fine. There is some compression visible in some of the black and white footage (banding was one effect in particular) but overall it looked quite good. With the mix of styles used in the video the transfer is well-done.

AUDIO:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is subtle but effective. A lot of sound effects are used to create the chaos of the flood and, while modest in 2.0, the blend of narration and additional effects plus music is quite good. The narration is by Richard Dreyfuss, which is good or bad depending on your opinion of the actor. I found him annoying, but I've never bought his smarmy, nasal voice. English subtitles are also included.

EXTRAS:
A full-length commentary is provided by Richard Burkert, Executive Director of the Johnstown Area Heritage Association. Burkert is also the central interviewee in a 20 minute documentary on the flood included on the disc. While a lot of information is repeated between these two features Burkert is informative and passionate about the subject. He relates a lot of additional information about the period and the area.

The disc also includes a piece of piano music (listed as a "piano illustration") called "The Johnstown Flood" that tells the story purely through instrumentation. This music is also used in the film but the extra feature plays the piece with only onscreen text accompanying, explaining what part of the real-life drama each movement corresponds with. An interesting idea for an extra feature.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
The subject of Johnstown Flood is likely unknown to most modern audiences. As a document of what transpired there this film is perfect. While it doesn't go beyond the subject matter at hand it does seem to tie up the story in a well-made bundle. The filmmaker went out on a limb with some of his techniques, not always with total success, but in the end he has crafted a glimpse into history that should be interesting to a wide audience.