Random Lunacy
Synopsis
Reconstructing Creole offers an unflinching view of culture, race, and history on one Louisiana plantation. In August 2004, an electrical fire burned away the Victorian additions to Laura Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana, leaving the original Creole house. In this film, a young team of builders reverse-engineers the unusual structure, a blend of African, French, and Native American building techniques. As restoration begins, the memoir of 19th century plantation mistress Laura Locoul Gore opens up a world of slavery and society balls, of race mixing and family bonds, of cruelty, love, and joie de vivre.
The film weaves past and present with music by 19th century Creole composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, as well as original works from Louisiana musicians Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, Mitch Caponetto, and Adam Kennedy. In the memoir of a Creole matriarch, and the restoration of her old plantation home, a Louisiana legacy comes to life.
