We meet a police officer, Matt Gates, who breaks down while recalling a womanвЂ™s narrow escape during the blaze, and whose work - dramatically redefined in the wake of the tragedy - takes its toll on his family life. Given the sheer scale of the destruction, itвЂ™s a reductive but effective tactic, especially in terms of providing an overall snapshot of municipal recovery. They also adopt the familiar strategy of telling a sweeping, panoramic story through a handful of individuals, using the faces of a few to represent the travails of the many. In effect, the filmmakers make us imagine what Paradise used to be by sifting through the wreckage of what it has become. A man points out buildings, including a hospital, that no longer exist. Staying firmly in the present tense, he and his camera crew spend a lot of time following their subjects, some of whom have temporarily relocated to trailer homes in nearby Chico.ДЄ few high schoolers, returning to what used to be their houses, marvel at metal bed frames and other abandoned possessions that have burned almost beyond recognition. But apart for some brief early footage, Howard doesnвЂ™t spend a lot of time delving into the past or showing us the town as it once existed. One of those historic small towns much idealized for their beauty, close-knit community and idyllic way of life, Paradise commanded intense loyalty among those who called it home. But others, some of them profiled in this movie, saw no choice but to return - and remain. For many of them, there was simply no going back. When the Camp fire swept through Paradise, it left 85 people dead, destroyed 14,000 homes and displaced tens of thousands of residents. But while the filmmaker keeps his eyes peeled for every possible shred of good news in the wake of disaster, he has little interest in peddling easy inspiration the stakes are too colossal, the devastation too raw.

Filmed over the year that followed the deadly blaze, вЂњRebuilding ParadiseвЂќ is about redemption as well as destruction, which you might guess from both the title and HowardвЂ™s well-known affinity for uplift. That moment of hope is fleeting but important. A clear blue sky has never looked so welcome. But all is not lost: Suddenly weвЂ™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: вЂњPlease, we need your help, Lord,вЂќ 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 вЂњRebuilding Paradise,вЂќ Ron HowardвЂ™s harrowing and heartrending new documentary.

Paradise ca movie s