Forget Canada, Americans now have a new target for all their angst, blame, and jokes-Bush. That is, the entire Bush family and administration, thanks in part to Michael Moore. Prior to the release of the controversial Fahrenheit 9/11, Moore came clean with his feelings about Bush and the 2004 election: although he is not necessarily anti-Republican, he is firmly anti-Bush. As will be, one suspects, many moviegoers after seeing Moore‘s latest.
Even for the most unaware individual who may have been living under a rock for the past three years, the political documentary is very easy to follow as Moore talks you through the unfolding of events since the what some say was the illegitimate installment of President Bush and the attacks on September 11th. He pieces together powerful footage from the terrorist attacks on the United States, poignant interviews with American soldiers stationed in Iraq, and heart wrenching depictions of a mother’s loss and a wife widowed.
Moore is an artist, a dazzling one at that, and this “documentary” should not, under any circumstance, be taken as historic fact–his outstanding capabilities as a filmmaker are apparent in this unfortunately one-sided, yet extremely necessary record. His brilliant editing and fixing of chronological events points all fingers of every mishap the country has undergone the past few years towards George W., and will likely upset avid Republicans and Bush supporters with its biased portrayal. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate Moore‘s interpretation and borrow it as your own (as will many, no doubt, judging by the roaring response in my theater). Hey, controversy sells, and judging by the lines around the block for Fahrenheit‘s first two opening nights, Moore is feeding off of this very concept.
Regardless of your personal political stance, you’ll laugh at the comedy Moore installs into everything he creates-including his ballsy attempt to recruit the children of congressmen into the war in Iraq, and revealing the private business line of a political figure who falsely claimed to have an 800 number that the American people “can call at any time.” You’ll cry at the horror undergone by more American families than we’d care to believe that is due, Moore implies, to the decisions of our current president. You’ll also be intrigued, astonished, informed and chilled at Moore‘s aesthetic account of a great nation. Fahrenheit will leave you in doubt about the man who is our president, and inquiring what the heck it is our country stands for in the first place.
