Fahrenheit 9/11
So, my GF and I went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 last night. As can be expected from Michael Moore, it's a masterpiece of cinema - immensely thought-provoking, funny, and very moving. As with Bowling for Columbine, I wouldn't dream for an instant that it will sway anyone from their currently deeply held convictions (in fact, I saw one couple get up and leave during the movie... whether they were dissatisfied or suddenly aware that they had left the gas on at home and their children were most likely burning to death as they watched, I don't know). Those on the fence may find it more convincing.
My overall review is that it is doubleplusgood, and everyone should see it - but it's not flawless. I'm not going to go down the whole 'rar rar a documentary is supposed to be unbiased rarr rarr' route, since that's a pointless argument for two reasons:
a) Michael Moore has said any number of times that this film is being made to get Bush out of office.
b) There's no such thing as an unbiased documentary, and it is a disservice to Mr. Moore to suggest that his work is flawed in this respect whereas other documentary-makers are mysteriously innocent of the sin of selective inclusion.
In certain respects, I think it would have been a more convincing movie if certain allegations hadn't been made - for example, that the Bin Laden family is still in contact with their black sheep relative Osama. Sure, he was spotted at a family wedding, but I don't think the argument made there is strong enough to justify the implication. I'm not saying that the Bin Ladens *aren't* helping their relative... I'm just saying that Fahrenheit 9/11 didn't sufficiently make the case that they are.
In other respects, there were bits of the movie where it was a little too emotionally manipulative. There's a very sad scene where the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq is in Washington, and she bursts into tears and doubles up in misery... she was on the screen like that for a while, and I was just thinking 'Please, cut the camera... go comfort her'. It was very effective in conveying the message of heart-breaking loss, but I would have liked it to have been less effective and more... well, humane I suppose.
Certain parts of it are very hard to watch - the scenes of Iraqi citizens mourning their dead are especially heart-breaking, and the footage of the wounds suffered by men, women and children are extremely troubling... but that doesn't disguise the fact that we *need* to see this kind of footage. For too long, mainstream news outlets have been providing us with the Iraqi Lite footage... a clean, sanitised version of events that doesn't upset the viewing public with unnecessary explicitness.
By turns it is hilarious, and upsetting, and eloquent, and troubling. The high-point for me, which encapsulated all of these traits, was the footage of George Bush when he is told about the second plane that crashed into the World Trade Centre. He is at an elementary school, where the children are reading for him... his chief of staff whispers in his ear, and he continues to sit there, for seven minutes, reading 'My Pet Goat'. It was creepy, watching this man completely retract in on himself at a time when he should have been taking appropriate action - the appropriate action that he is being paid $400k a year to take.
Will it get Bush out of office? I doubt it - Michael Moore is a polarising figure, and the chances are if you care enough about the issues to go see a documentary on the subject, you're already in one of the two main camps. There is far more compelling evidence to suggest that Bush isn't going to be re-elected, Fahrenheit 9/11 or not. But it's still very much worth watching just for the experience of seeing the Bush Administration lie, cheat and obfuscate on the big screen, where there's nowhere for them to hide.
My overall review is that it is doubleplusgood, and everyone should see it - but it's not flawless. I'm not going to go down the whole 'rar rar a documentary is supposed to be unbiased rarr rarr' route, since that's a pointless argument for two reasons:
a) Michael Moore has said any number of times that this film is being made to get Bush out of office.
b) There's no such thing as an unbiased documentary, and it is a disservice to Mr. Moore to suggest that his work is flawed in this respect whereas other documentary-makers are mysteriously innocent of the sin of selective inclusion.
In certain respects, I think it would have been a more convincing movie if certain allegations hadn't been made - for example, that the Bin Laden family is still in contact with their black sheep relative Osama. Sure, he was spotted at a family wedding, but I don't think the argument made there is strong enough to justify the implication. I'm not saying that the Bin Ladens *aren't* helping their relative... I'm just saying that Fahrenheit 9/11 didn't sufficiently make the case that they are.
In other respects, there were bits of the movie where it was a little too emotionally manipulative. There's a very sad scene where the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq is in Washington, and she bursts into tears and doubles up in misery... she was on the screen like that for a while, and I was just thinking 'Please, cut the camera... go comfort her'. It was very effective in conveying the message of heart-breaking loss, but I would have liked it to have been less effective and more... well, humane I suppose.
Certain parts of it are very hard to watch - the scenes of Iraqi citizens mourning their dead are especially heart-breaking, and the footage of the wounds suffered by men, women and children are extremely troubling... but that doesn't disguise the fact that we *need* to see this kind of footage. For too long, mainstream news outlets have been providing us with the Iraqi Lite footage... a clean, sanitised version of events that doesn't upset the viewing public with unnecessary explicitness.
By turns it is hilarious, and upsetting, and eloquent, and troubling. The high-point for me, which encapsulated all of these traits, was the footage of George Bush when he is told about the second plane that crashed into the World Trade Centre. He is at an elementary school, where the children are reading for him... his chief of staff whispers in his ear, and he continues to sit there, for seven minutes, reading 'My Pet Goat'. It was creepy, watching this man completely retract in on himself at a time when he should have been taking appropriate action - the appropriate action that he is being paid $400k a year to take.
Will it get Bush out of office? I doubt it - Michael Moore is a polarising figure, and the chances are if you care enough about the issues to go see a documentary on the subject, you're already in one of the two main camps. There is far more compelling evidence to suggest that Bush isn't going to be re-elected, Fahrenheit 9/11 or not. But it's still very much worth watching just for the experience of seeing the Bush Administration lie, cheat and obfuscate on the big screen, where there's nowhere for them to hide.
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