Fahrenheit 9/11
Rated: R One flick this summer has all you’ve come to expect from a blockbuster film: action, explosions, fighting, betrayal, love, loss, lies, and a nefarious plot against the masses. What makes this flick different than the rest of your summer fare is that it’s all genuine. 
Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 takes on the Bush administration and the American response to the events of September 11th and the aftermath of those events. Much like this year’s previous highly controversial film, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, the response to Fahrenheit 9/11 began well before the film’s release date. It all began with Michael Eisner’s decision not to release the film because it was deemed too political for an election year (politics being the last thing worthy of discussion in an election year). While the film floated in the ether waiting for a distributor, it won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the Palm D’Or by winning over the unlikeliest supporters for an anti-Bush film: liberals and the French. After this victory, the film was finally picked up by IFC Films and Lions Gate Films for distribution. But the tribulations of the film did not end as a group called Move America Forward made a desperate attempt to contact theatres across the nation and urge them not to show the film. The group claimed victory when the film failed to reach its goal of debuting on a 1,000 screens (it debuted on 858). But the controversies of the past three months have only helped to push Moore’s film futher into the spotlight. Thankfully, the film merits the uproar it created and will be sure to spark even more discussion among those who have seen the film (and probably among those who haven’t). A film in three parts, Fahrenheit 9/11 starts by showing the relationship between the Bush family and Bin Laden family and show implications of business ties which led the United States to go after Afghanistan and Iraq rather than Saudi Arabia. The film continues by showing the attacks on American civil liberties in response to 9/11 with the underhanded passage of the Patriot Act and interviews with those questioned by the government for off-handed “anti-American” comments. The film concludes by showing the harsh reality of the second Gulf War as Iraqi citizens suffer the devastating effects of American bombings, American soldiers suffer the effects of indefinite stay in a hostile environment, and American families suffer the loss of sons and daughters due to the fighting. Depending on who you talk to, Michael Moore is a populist, a polemist, a sensationalist, a liar, and/or a terrorist. But in viewing Fahrenheit 9/11, it becomes very clear that love him or hate him, Moore is a talented documentary filmmaker and this is his most mature film to date. 
His scene focusing on the events of 9/11 is a good example of how Moore knows how to tap into audience emotion simply through the skillful editing of images and music. It’s been almost three years since September 11th and it can be easy to forget the chaos and tragedy of the actual moment, but Moore does an impressive job of helping viewers to recall the fear and sorrow they felt when the planes struck the Twin Towers. The scene begins by only using sounds of 9/11 over a black screen and then slowly shows the clips that became all too familiar during the autumn months of 2001. Families wonder about the safety of their loved ones. New Yorkers run for cover from the falling debris. Others watch in horror as people jump from the flaming buildings. Paper drifts through the air as a thick cloud of dust and smoke rises from the ground. It seems for a moment like someone might come through the haze and safe the day…but of course, no one does. Moore can hit the audience with an emotional punch with such a scene and then quickly liven up the proceedings with his trade mark ironic humor, whether it be through showing an inappropriate quote, an embarrassing moment, or combining the right music which appears counter or far too appropriate to the accompanying images. Playing “Vacation” as Bush lazes about on his ranch and the theme from The Greatest American Hero as Bush makes his now infamous appearance on the aircraft carrier, Fahrenheit 9/11 pushes its viewers to a wide array of reactions and emotions for a film experience that will leave all those who are willing to listen to Moore feeling an odd mix of anger, shock, disappointment, and perhaps even hope as Neil Young’s “Keep on Rocking in the Free World” plays over the closing credits. The film does suffer from a few problems. First is the opening act where Moore attempts to connect the Bushes with the Bin Ladens. Although his point of Bush putting Saudi interests over American ones is clear, the connection Moore makes is tenuous at best and thus does not quite hook the viewer as easily as the acts following the 9/11 attacks. Also, while Moore’s sensationalist attempts have helped to add humor in his previous films, here they seem inappropriate and stale. Thankfully, Moore keeps his attempts to a minimum and his two sensationalist attempts remain short. Finally, but perhaps most damaging to the film is Moore’s refusal to confront the opposition. Nowhere is it written that a documentary shouldn’t have a bias, but Moore hurts his case by not addressing and debating opposing viewpoints. While Moore’s opposition will continue to dispute the facts presented and the film’s supporters will continue to question whether the film will have any effect on this year’s election, from a critical standpoint, Fahrenheit 9/11’s emotional pull and production should help move attention away from Moore and his attempts to bring the movie to the public and towards the more important issues presented in the film. Words by |