Bowling For Columbine

[IronParrot]

Caught a press screening of Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine this morning - it doesn't open here until Friday, but should be out in most places in the States already.

It's excellent. Don't be scared off by the fact that it's a documentary... just go and see it.

My review: (please note that it was for a Canadian paper, in case you don't get my reference to that here)

At one point in Michael Moore’s documentary Bowling For Columbine, a perhaps not-too-surprising statistic is presented: the firearm-related homicide rate in the United States is over eleven thousand a year, several times that of all the other major nations in the world combined. The question that he then investigates can be paraphrased quite briefly: Why do Americans kill Americans? Why does the U.S. specifically suffer this torrential affliction of violence, when the frequently blamed factors of lax gun laws and cultural saturation of violence in the media is a scenario that exists worldwide?

Moore, a card-carrying member of the NRA, approaches the question as a master essayist, combining ironic interview sessions with montages of media footage to tackle the debate over Second Amendment rights in every facet imaginable. The result is a commendable work of cinema that not only serves as the definitive film about America’s gun craze, but also manages to both amuse and shock for two seamless hours.

Bowling For Columbine demonstrates documentary excellence, in the sense that it is a mosaic of celluloid evidence that is objective in its structure and cinematographic style, but juxtaposes these clips in a fashion that coheres as a cunningly subliminal and utterly convincing argument against everything that Moore blames for the proliferation of American gun culture, from the alleged racist undertones in Cops to the poverty line drawn by the welfare-to-work programme. Seemingly unrelated socio-economic issues such as these are linked in a way that examines the root of the problem in every way the general public does not, because as Moore shows in a simple montage of news reports, they are ever so ready to blame Marilyn Manson for the poisoning of today’s youth.

A highlight of the film that extends its relevance and applicability beyond American borders is when Moore contrasts the U.S. with Canada, including the indispensable man-on-the-street interviews demonstrating American ignorance, always good for a laugh on this side of the border. For example, according to our southern neighbours, we Canadians have a lower murder rate because we are all a bunch of pacifistic white guys who never watch violent movies.

Yet these interviews are meagre in impact next to those with the likes of John Nichols, an associate of Timothy McVeigh’s who has never heard of Gandhi, and Charlton Heston, everybody’s favourite ape-fighting NRA president. On the surface, these are just interviews – questions and answers on camera; but through this device alone, Moore scathingly unmasks a frightening degree of hypocrisy in the pro-gun argument that makes it collapse before our eyes.

The true impressiveness of Bowling For Columbine lies in the fact that more often than not, Moore simply steps aside and lets the images tell the story, in the true spirit of cinema. The security camera tapes of the Columbine massacre speak for themselves, as does a sequence that intercuts speeches by Heston and a Columbine victim’s father at their respective rallies, as does a mélange of cartoons, advertisements and propaganda reels that self-evidently dissect the country from whence they came.

What Bowling For Columbine does, at the simplest level, is string morsels of footage together in a way that nails the bullseye of persuasion, condemning almost every given of American society for its violent consequences. Often hilarious, other times powerfully sentimental, and important from beginning to end, it must be seen.

[katya]

I heard on the Rage Against the Machine website that it was good. I will check it out, eventually.

[cee2lee2]

Thanks for the review.

I'm a Michael Moore fan from way back and have been receiving his online newsletter so I've been aware of the new movie. However, it's not likely to play here anytime soon, if at all. Probably have to wait until PBS and Frontline air it. That's how I got to see "Roger and Me."

[azalea]

Yeah, it looks really good, but I'll probably have to wait for it on video.

[Erawyn]

I saw this movie today and loved it. This probably sounds stupid but Michael Moore is my hero! I loved the little history of america cartoon! I think everyone should see this movie!!

[IronParrot]

Did the South Park guys do the History of America cartoon? It looks like their style, and after all, Moore did interview Matt Stone...

[Eruviel Greenleaf]

um. wow. very good. left me somewhat unable to speak coherently because i was thinking about so much at once. (which i am re-enacting now, i fear...er...)

i think that's the 2nd movie that's ever made me cry. um. yeah.

can't listen to 'it's a wonderful world' anymore. at least not without thinking of that part with the history of american involvement abroad...

[Dunadan]

Great stuff. So nice to see a documentary which is unashamedly partisan. And pretty scary stuff.

It seemed to me that Marilyn Manson was about the most sensible person in the whole film.

cheers

d.

[Eruviel Greenleaf]

Originally posted by Dunadan

It seemed to me that Marilyn Manson was about the most sensible person in the whole film.

yes! he was my favourite of the people interviewed! definitely the most sensible.

[jerseydevil]

The problem with Michael Moore is that he produces psuedo documentaries. He only presents what he wants to present and leaves out anything that doesn't support his established view.

I haven't seen the movie - so I can't comment on that. But from interviews that I have seen him do in support of the movie, his TV shows and various other places I've seen him through the years - I know that he sensenationalizes and twists the facts to make them say what he wants them too. (not that others don't - but knowing his background - I would take the movie with a grain of salt.)

[Sween]

i really wanna watch this i think it would be facinating

[Artanis]

I've just come home from watching this movie (yeah we're a bit late here) and it is the first time I've experienced people applauding a film when it's finished. It was excellently made, though obviously biased, which is OK because it didn't pretend to be otherwise. But the applaud was not only approval of a good movie, but also approval of the rather harsh criticism of the USA. I'm sorry to say there was an overall air of anti-American feeling in the theatre.

Now I've never been to the USA, and I don't know how it's like to live there, except from the impression I get from media, which, like this film, at the best is telling only a little of the truth. And the USA pictured in this film was not nice. I would really like to hear what you think about it, and to hear your opinions.

[BeardofPants]

It's a very good movie. Big fan of Michael Moore -- no surprises there. I thought it was a nice touch that K-Mart stopped selling ammunition. And it was very chilling and sad, at the end, with the picture.

BTW: Do Canadians really leave their doors unlocked?

[Wayfarer]

Midwesterners leave our doors unlocked.
Gun closets, on the other hand, stay securely closed at all times.

[FoolofaTook]

I loved it. I'm a big fan of Michael Moore. Have any of you read his book, Stupid White Men? It's great also.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by Wayfarer
Midwesterners leave our doors unlocked.
Gun closets, on the other hand, stay securely closed at all times.

I leave my doors unlocked in New Jersey - except when I'm not home. There were more problems in Seymour than there are in Plainsboro.

[markedel]

Very good.

However, a telling demonstartion of why liberalism fails in the U.S.

[Millane]

nah i didnt get a chance to go see it coz the stupid cinema had it on for about a week and yeah... my went and saw it ans she said it was great and that Marilyn Manson was probly the most sensible fella and Charlten Heston is a wanker

[Amandil]

http://www.moorewatch.com//

Uh, hope that worked.

Mr. Moore's movie is no more brilliant than the usual gunk on the news.

Love you all!

[Elenka]

After I saw that movie.....I dunno, I was kind of. . .out of wack. I really liked it. Especially when he talked about how many people are killed by gun violence every year....Really puts it in perspective.