This is a film that all people from age 12 upwards should be forced to watch, especially conservatives and those in favour of the oppressive regimes of the world, uninformed and unaware of the effects of the media and spin.
For me, this is Micheal Moore's best work yet. Many say it lacks the personal insight of his earlier Roger and Me and, here in Britain, many are more used to seeing Moore in comedic mode on shows such as TV Nation. But this is a far more far-reaching and globally important film than anything he has done, bar his book Stupid White Men.
Firstly, let me address the nay-saying surrounding the film. In the press, on the internet and even on American Network TV, people have accused the film of being a lie about the state of gun culture and culture in general in America. For those people, I would direct them to his website (its easy enough to find), in particular the section titled "Wacko Attacko". That should clear up some things. Know going into this that it deals with some things that are hard to take, but which could not make it into a theatrically released (not to mention Academy award winning) film if they were not gathered from fact.
The film: starting with the now famous scene of Moore procuring a gun from a bank - given to him for opening an account with them - it is a no-holds-barred attack on the state of American gun law and the state of mind that comes with the Constitutionally protected right to bear arms. The picture he paints is that that right, paired with the culture of fear onmipresent in commercially-led TV, leads to the notion that we NEED guns to protect ourselves from a savage culture which exists only because we are led to believe it does.
Taking a look at the history of fear and xenophobia front and centre in America's past, right up to the shootings at Columbine school and in Michigan in recent news, Moore's case is extremely effective in convincing us that there is a deep-rooted cancer in society which needs to be addressed if we are to break out of the shackles that we are born into through decades of self-serving propaganda. Moore's brief history of the USA is both hilarious and terrifying. But the real meat is the controversial footage which has some up in arms, decrying him as a liar and cruel opportunist and manipulator.
The footage taken from Columbine school on the day of the killings is absolutely petrifying - a pair of teens armed to the teeth, killing their colleagues and peers with ruthless efficiency - and simultaneously heartbreaking. I am not ashamed in saying that i shed a good few tears, watching the sequence. It is the essence of good documentary, letting the images speak for themselves, devoid of deliberate commentary, to serve the purpose of the film and make a point far better than any voiceover could.
When KMart executives refuse to see the victims of the bullets their store sold, you feel anger and know that the tables have been turned, that the people looking to make a quick buck by selling ammunition in a convenience chain are afraid of the repercussions of their decision. The resultant sequence and the honesty of the boys involved is both powerful and just.
And that is the reason that Moore's film was afforded such praise and awarded one of the highest honours for a documentary filmmaker - it exposes an issue we knew existed, but which had not been fully addressed. It does so in an informative, poignant and humorous manner, enlightening us to the sheer scope of the epidemic, pointing the finger and offering an alternative way of life. It opens our eyes to the system that controls and consumes, that relies on our obedience and our money. It is both surprising and encouraging that the Academy gave Moore the Best Documentary Feature award. It shows that while they award dirge like A Beautiful Mind and the dull Chicago over more inspiring and long-lasting art (who will be talking about those films in ten, twenty, heck even five years?), they recognise a genuinely important film when it arrives.
Finally, it is important to address the backlash surrounding the Charlton Heston interview. It has been called inappropriate, cruel and fruitless. Watch it. Just watch them both in that interview. Moore is a gentleman and, as one previous reviewer pointed out, actually stops Heston from truly hanging himself. Then think about what we have seen. Heston walks out on the interview - IN HIS OWN HOME!! - because he cannot justify his actions in any way that will not come across as ridiculous. he is the Chairman and spokesperson in chief of the National Rifle Association. He believes that people not only have the right but the cause to own guns. "From his cold dead hands". Manipulation or not, those are his words. And he did say them shortly after the Columbine shootings. WATCH THE INTERVIEW. He does not defend or dispute that fact. So he's old. He's infirm. He's a respected actor. Tough luck. He deserves, as much as anyone responsible does, to have those questions put to him. I will never pay for a Charlton Heston film, I will never watch a Charlton Heston film and I will not miss him when he is gone. His position as a free-thinking adult is indefensible. Shame on him.
I may sound angry, and that is the effect the film has. Not in a "I'm gonna get a gun" way, but in a "We as a people are better than this, and I will fight that system all the way for my freedom as a person" kind of way. Once you have seen it, if you are open-minded and fed up with being held responsible for the actions of your nation's leaders, you will look at almost everything in the street in a different light. We don't have to do things this way. That is the film's ultimate message. It is a prescient point, made extremely convincingly. If you are tired of political drivel and commercial or militant spin, I urge you to see this film and support its director. He just might be one of the real good guys.
10/10
For me, this is Micheal Moore's best work yet. Many say it lacks the personal insight of his earlier Roger and Me and, here in Britain, many are more used to seeing Moore in comedic mode on shows such as TV Nation. But this is a far more far-reaching and globally important film than anything he has done, bar his book Stupid White Men.
Firstly, let me address the nay-saying surrounding the film. In the press, on the internet and even on American Network TV, people have accused the film of being a lie about the state of gun culture and culture in general in America. For those people, I would direct them to his website (its easy enough to find), in particular the section titled "Wacko Attacko". That should clear up some things. Know going into this that it deals with some things that are hard to take, but which could not make it into a theatrically released (not to mention Academy award winning) film if they were not gathered from fact.
The film: starting with the now famous scene of Moore procuring a gun from a bank - given to him for opening an account with them - it is a no-holds-barred attack on the state of American gun law and the state of mind that comes with the Constitutionally protected right to bear arms. The picture he paints is that that right, paired with the culture of fear onmipresent in commercially-led TV, leads to the notion that we NEED guns to protect ourselves from a savage culture which exists only because we are led to believe it does.
Taking a look at the history of fear and xenophobia front and centre in America's past, right up to the shootings at Columbine school and in Michigan in recent news, Moore's case is extremely effective in convincing us that there is a deep-rooted cancer in society which needs to be addressed if we are to break out of the shackles that we are born into through decades of self-serving propaganda. Moore's brief history of the USA is both hilarious and terrifying. But the real meat is the controversial footage which has some up in arms, decrying him as a liar and cruel opportunist and manipulator.
The footage taken from Columbine school on the day of the killings is absolutely petrifying - a pair of teens armed to the teeth, killing their colleagues and peers with ruthless efficiency - and simultaneously heartbreaking. I am not ashamed in saying that i shed a good few tears, watching the sequence. It is the essence of good documentary, letting the images speak for themselves, devoid of deliberate commentary, to serve the purpose of the film and make a point far better than any voiceover could.
When KMart executives refuse to see the victims of the bullets their store sold, you feel anger and know that the tables have been turned, that the people looking to make a quick buck by selling ammunition in a convenience chain are afraid of the repercussions of their decision. The resultant sequence and the honesty of the boys involved is both powerful and just.
And that is the reason that Moore's film was afforded such praise and awarded one of the highest honours for a documentary filmmaker - it exposes an issue we knew existed, but which had not been fully addressed. It does so in an informative, poignant and humorous manner, enlightening us to the sheer scope of the epidemic, pointing the finger and offering an alternative way of life. It opens our eyes to the system that controls and consumes, that relies on our obedience and our money. It is both surprising and encouraging that the Academy gave Moore the Best Documentary Feature award. It shows that while they award dirge like A Beautiful Mind and the dull Chicago over more inspiring and long-lasting art (who will be talking about those films in ten, twenty, heck even five years?), they recognise a genuinely important film when it arrives.
Finally, it is important to address the backlash surrounding the Charlton Heston interview. It has been called inappropriate, cruel and fruitless. Watch it. Just watch them both in that interview. Moore is a gentleman and, as one previous reviewer pointed out, actually stops Heston from truly hanging himself. Then think about what we have seen. Heston walks out on the interview - IN HIS OWN HOME!! - because he cannot justify his actions in any way that will not come across as ridiculous. he is the Chairman and spokesperson in chief of the National Rifle Association. He believes that people not only have the right but the cause to own guns. "From his cold dead hands". Manipulation or not, those are his words. And he did say them shortly after the Columbine shootings. WATCH THE INTERVIEW. He does not defend or dispute that fact. So he's old. He's infirm. He's a respected actor. Tough luck. He deserves, as much as anyone responsible does, to have those questions put to him. I will never pay for a Charlton Heston film, I will never watch a Charlton Heston film and I will not miss him when he is gone. His position as a free-thinking adult is indefensible. Shame on him.
I may sound angry, and that is the effect the film has. Not in a "I'm gonna get a gun" way, but in a "We as a people are better than this, and I will fight that system all the way for my freedom as a person" kind of way. Once you have seen it, if you are open-minded and fed up with being held responsible for the actions of your nation's leaders, you will look at almost everything in the street in a different light. We don't have to do things this way. That is the film's ultimate message. It is a prescient point, made extremely convincingly. If you are tired of political drivel and commercial or militant spin, I urge you to see this film and support its director. He just might be one of the real good guys.
10/10
