Michael Moore for Fahrenheit 911.
That’s right, this year’s Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival goes to the guy who brought us Bowling for Columbine and who now is showing us what went on behind the scenes in the Bush administration during and after September 11th, 2001.
The next year is sure to be packed with feverish debate over the film’s veracity, Moore’s credibility, and what his footage and interviews reveal.
Clearly, beyond America’s borders, anything that makes Bush look like a fool is going to be well-received. Rather than jumping to judge Moore and his film as many will do, I’m simply anxious to see it for myself to decide if it’s a piece of leftie-propaganda, or if it’s responsibly and fairly made. Is it just one guy’s opinion, backed up by whoever he could get to agree with him? Or is it news, drawn together from a careful and thorough examination of the facts?
We’ll see.
Jeffrey — just getting caught up on your blog. Enjoyed several of your postings, including your take on Saved!, which I want to see… I wrestle with movies like that (and in fact am trying to make one that is perhaps a little less scathing)… I agree with them, for the most part (agree with their take on Christians who are hypocrites), but I always think about from what intention the observations are coming. I suppose, in the end, I see negative portrayals of Christians as largely the fault of Christians, but I also think we’re held to a standard that is absurdly high (due in part to the rhetoric we, admittedly, put out there.
Also enjoyed reading Anne’s poetry (it made me long for the period in my life when I connected with poetry on a deep level and wrote a lot of it myself… it’s as if I no longer have the patience for it now, or think exclusively in terms of prose and dry screenwriting directions)…
And since I’m appending this comment to your post on Farenheit 911, I’ll throw in a thought or two about that. I watched Bowling for Columbine prior to reading any detailed analysis of the debatable nature of Moore’s ‘facts’ and found it to be riveting. I was disturbed by how much of what was in there was, at least by some accounts, pure fiction. Moore damaged his own credibility so much (in my eyes), that I see him as more of an entertainer than a legitimate political/social critic. I likely won’t get a chance to see Farenheit 911 until it is on DVD anyway, and by then I will have read numerous scathing attacks on the ‘facts’ in this film, and I’ll be asking myself who to trust. Moore hasn’t given me any reason to trust that he will tell the truth (then again, neither have most politicians).
David Poland has a really interesting analysis of Moore’s and Miramax’s deceptions throughout the “who will distribute the movie” controversy in today’s Hot Button. I suggest you check it out to see what I mean about not trusting Moore. http://www.thehotbutton.com/Chris Hansen
Thanks so much for the Poland link. That’s an excellent contribution that Poland has made to the hubbub over this film. I really admire Poland. Even when he agrees with somebody, he has the integrity to call them out for their indiscretions and falsehoods. He’s one of the lone voices of integrity in his medium. We need him to balance out the strong bias of Jeffrey Wells, who’s more than willing to bash Mel Gibson based on hearsay, and more than willing to celebrate Michael Moore’s politics even when he sees the unethical tactics Moore uses in his spin.
Agreed — I found Poland’s take on the Passion controversies to be interesting reading. I really sense that he makes every effort to look at a thing objectively, and of course he has no corporate ties anymore, so he can speak his mind.