[Vision2020] Review: Fahrenheit 9/11
Tbertruss@aol.com
Tbertruss@aol.com
Mon, 17 May 2004 17:55:17 EDT
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http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,638819,00.html?cnn=3Dyes
A First Look at "Fahrenheit 9/11"
Controversy aside, the new Michael Moore film is a fine documentary=C2=A0=20
By MARY CORLISS/CANNES=20
=20
Monday, May. 17, 2004
A few years ago, Michael Moore spoke with then-Governor George W. Bush, who=20
told the muckraker: =E2=80=9CBehave yourself, will ya? Go find real work.=
=E2=80=9D Moore has=20
made trouble for so many powerful people he has become a media power of his=20
own. He can even make celebrities of mere movie reviewers: When his latest=20
cinematic incendiary device, =E2=80=9CFahrenheit 9/11,=E2=80=9D had its firs=
t press screening=20
Monday morning, American critics emerging from the theater were besieged by=20=
a=20
convoy of TV and radio crews from networks around the world who wanted to kn=
ow what=20
they thought of Moore=E2=80=99s blast at the Bush Administration.=20
Disney, for one, was not impressed. Earlier this month, the company ordered=20
its subsidiary, Miramax Films, not to release the film. Moore says that his=20
lawyer was told by Disney CEO Michael Eisner that distributing it would harm=
the=20
company=E2=80=99s negotiations for favorable treatment for its Florida theme=
parks=20
from that state=E2=80=99s governor, one Jeb Bush. Harvey Weinstein, co-chair=
of Miramax,=20
is now trying to buy the film back from Disney and to fashion his own=20
coalition of the willing =E2=80=94 other distributors happy to profit from D=
isney=E2=80=99s timidity.=20
The result of this internal agita will be to raise the profile and, most=20
likely, the profitability of Moore=E2=80=99s film, which he still hopes will=
open on the=20
July 4th weekend.=20
So much for the controversy. How is it as a movie? =E2=80=9CFahrenheit 9/11=
=E2=80=9D =E2=80=94 the=20
title is a play on the Ray Bradbury novel (and Francois Truffaut film) =E2=
=80=9C
Fahrenheit 451,=E2=80=9D about a future totalitarian state where reading, an=
d thus=20
independent thinking, has been outlawed =E2=80=94 has news value beyond its=20=
financing and=20
distribution tangles. The movie, a brisk and entertaining indictment of the=20=
Bush=20
Administration=E2=80=99s middle East policies before and after September 11,=
2001,=20
features new footage of abuse by U.S. soldiers: a Christmas Eve 2003 sortie=20=
in which=20
Iraqi captives are publicly humiliated.=20
Though made over the past two years, the film has scenes that seem ripped=20
from recent headlines. Last week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited=20=
Iraq=20
and, to the cheers of his military audience, defiantly called himself =E2=
=80=9Ca=20
survivor=E2=80=9D (a word traditionally reserved for those who have lived th=
rough the=20
Holocaust or cancer, not for someone enduring political difficulties). In th=
e film,=20
a soldier tells Moore=E2=80=99s field team: =E2=80=9CIf Donald Rumsfeld was=20=
here, I=E2=80=99d ask=20
for his resignation.=E2=80=9D=20
Moore=E2=80=99s perennial grudge is against what President Eisenhower called=
the=20
military-industrial complex: the collusion of big corporations and bad gover=
nment=20
to exploit the working class, here and abroad, for their own gain and in the=
=20
process deprive citizens of their liberties. The Bush Administration=E2=80=
=99s Iraq=20
policy is handmade for Moore=E2=80=99s grievances. Bush and his father have=20=
enjoyed a=20
long and profitable relationship with the ruling families of Saudi Arabia,=20
including the bin Ladens. The best-seller =E2=80=9CHouse of Bush, House of S=
aud=E2=80=9D by Craig=20
Unger, whom Moore interviews, estimates that the Saudis have enriched the=20
Bushes and their closest cronies by $1.4 billion.=20
Politicians reward their biggest contributors, and the Bushes are no=20
exceptions. Fifteen of the 19 September 11th hijackers were Saudis; but when=
Prince=20
Bandar, the Saudi ambassador who is close to the First Family, dined with th=
e=20
President in the White House two days after the attacks, the mood was colleg=
ial,=20
not angry. In the Iraqi ramp-up and occupation, the Administration has=20
rewarded its Saudi and Texas supporters with billions in rebuilding contract=
s. As=20
Blaine Ober, president of an armored vehicle company, tells Moore: the Iraqi=
=20
adventure is =E2=80=9Cgood for business, bad for the people.=E2=80=9D=20
Bad for the people of Iraq, Ober means. But, Moore argues, bad for Americans=
=20
as well. As he sees it, 9/11 was a tragedy for America, a career move for=20
Bush. The attacks allowed the President to push through Congress restrictive=
laws=20
that would have been defeated in any climate but the =E2=80=9Cwar on terror=
=E2=80=9D chill. =E2=80=9C
Fahrenheit 9/11=E2=80=9D shows some tragicomic effects of the Patriot Act: a=
man=20
quizzed by the FBI for casually mentioning at his health club that he though=
t Bush=20
was an =E2=80=9Casshole=E2=80=9D; a benign peace group in Fresno, Cal., infi=
ltrated by an=20
undercover police agent.=20
Two Bush quotes in the film indicate the Administration=E2=80=99s quandary i=
n selling=20
repression to the American people. One: =E2=80=9CA dictatorship would be a h=
eck of a=20
lot easier, no doubt about it.=E2=80=9D The other: =E2=80=9CThey=E2=80=99re=20=
not happy they=E2=80=99re=20
occupied. I wouldn=E2=80=99t be happy if I were occupied either.=E2=80=9D Mo=
ore=E2=80=99s argument is that=20
the U.S. is currently being occupied by a hostile, un-American force: the=20
quintet of Bush, Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft and Paul Wolfowitz.=20
Moore is usually the front-and-center star of his own films. Here, his=20
presence is mostly that of narrator and guiding force, though he does make a=
few=20
piquant appearances. While chatting with Unger across the street from the Sa=
udi=20
embassy in Washington, he is approached and quizzed by Secret Service agents=
.=20
Hearing from Rep. John Conyers that no member of Congress had read the compl=
ete=20
Patriot Act before voting for it, he hires a Mister Softee truck and patrols=
=20
downtown D.C. reading the act to members of Congress over a loudspeaker.=20
Toward the end, he tries to get Congressmen to enlist their sons in the mili=
tary.=20
Surprise: no volunteers.=20
The film has its longueurs. The interviews with young blacks and a grieving=20
mother in Moore=E2=80=99s home town of Flint, Michigan, are relevant and poi=
gnant, but=20
they lack the propulsive force and homespun indignance of the rest of the=20
film. =E2=80=9CFahrenheit 9/11=E2=80=9D is at its best when it provides talk=
ing points for the=20
emerging majority of those opposed to the Iraq incursion. In sum, it=E2=80=
=99s an=20
appalling, enthralling primer of what Moore sees as the Bush Administration=
=E2=80=99s crimes=20
and misdemeanors.=20
=E2=80=9CFahrenheit 9/11=E2=80=9D may be seen as another example of the libe=
ral media=20
preaching to its own choir. But Moore is such a clever assembler of huge acc=
usations=20
and minor peccadillos (as with a shot of Wolfowitz sticking his pocket comb=20
in his mouth and sucking on it to slick down his hair before a TV interview)=
=20
that the film should engage audiences of all political persuasions.=20
In one sense, Michael Moore took George W. Bush=E2=80=99s advice. He found=20=
=E2=80=9Creal work
=E2=80=9D deconstructing the President=E2=80=99s Iraq mistakes. =E2=80=9CFah=
renheit 9/11=E2=80=9D is Moore=E2=80=99
s own War on Error.=20
----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
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=20
V2020 Post by Ted Moffett
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<HTML><FONT FACE=3Darial,helvetica><HTML><FONT SIZE=3D2 PTSIZE=3D10 FAMILY=
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<A HREF=3D"http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,638819,00.html?cnn=
=3Dyes">http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,638819,00.html?cnn=3Dye=
s</A><BR>
<IMG SRC=3D"http://i.timeinc.net/time/images/slugs/sampler_movies.gif" WIDT=
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DATASIZE=3D"43"> A First Look at "Fahrenheit 9/11"<BR>
Controversy aside, the new Michael Moore film is a fine documentary=C2=A0 <B=
R>
By MARY CORLISS/CANNES <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<IMG SRC=3D"http://i.timeinc.net/time/include/page_parts/images/print_save_=
subscribe.gif" WIDTH=3D"155" HEIGHT=3D"43" BORDER=3D"0" DATASIZE=3D"528"> <B=
R>
<BR>
Monday, May. 17, 2004<BR>
A few years ago, Michael Moore spoke with then-Governor George W. Bush, who=20=
told the muckraker: =E2=80=9CBehave yourself, will ya? Go find real work.=
=E2=80=9D Moore has made trouble for so many powerful people he has become a=
media power of his own. He can even make celebrities of mere movie reviewer=
s: When his latest cinematic incendiary device, =E2=80=9CFahrenheit 9/11,=
=E2=80=9D had its first press screening Monday morning, American critics eme=
rging from the theater were besieged by a convoy of TV and radio crews from=20=
networks around the world who wanted to know what they thought of Moore=E2=
=80=99s blast at the Bush Administration. <BR>
<BR>
Disney, for one, was not impressed. Earlier this month, the company ordered=20=
its subsidiary, Miramax Films, not to release the film. Moore says that his=20=
lawyer was told by Disney CEO Michael Eisner that distributing it would harm=
the company=E2=80=99s negotiations for favorable treatment for its Florida=20=
theme parks from that state=E2=80=99s governor, one Jeb Bush. Harvey Weinste=
in, co-chair of Miramax, is now trying to buy the film back from Disney and=20=
to fashion his own coalition of the willing =E2=80=94 other distributors hap=
py to profit from Disney=E2=80=99s timidity. The result of this internal agi=
ta will be to raise the profile and, most likely, the profitability of Moore=
=E2=80=99s film, which he still hopes will open on the July 4th weekend. <BR=
>
<BR>
So much for the controversy. How is it as a movie? =E2=80=9CFahrenheit 9/11=
=E2=80=9D =E2=80=94 the title is a play on the Ray Bradbury novel (and Franc=
ois Truffaut film) =E2=80=9CFahrenheit 451,=E2=80=9D about a future totalita=
rian state where reading, and thus independent thinking, has been outlawed=20=
=E2=80=94 has news value beyond its financing and distribution tangles. The=20=
movie, a brisk and entertaining indictment of the Bush Administration=E2=80=
=99s middle East policies before and after September 11, 2001, features new=20=
footage of abuse by U.S. soldiers: a Christmas Eve 2003 sortie in which Iraq=
i captives are publicly humiliated. <BR>
<BR>
Though made over the past two years, the film has scenes that seem ripped fr=
om recent headlines. Last week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Ir=
aq and, to the cheers of his military audience, defiantly called himself=20=
=E2=80=9Ca survivor=E2=80=9D (a word traditionally reserved for those who ha=
ve lived through the Holocaust or cancer, not for someone enduring political=
difficulties). In the film, a soldier tells Moore=E2=80=99s field team:=20=
=E2=80=9CIf Donald Rumsfeld was here, I=E2=80=99d ask for his resignation.=
=E2=80=9D <BR>
<BR>
Moore=E2=80=99s perennial grudge is against what President Eisenhower called=
the military-industrial complex: the collusion of big corporations and bad=20=
government to exploit the working class, here and abroad, for their own gain=
and in the process deprive citizens of their liberties. The Bush Administra=
tion=E2=80=99s Iraq policy is handmade for Moore=E2=80=99s grievances. Bush=20=
and his father have enjoyed a long and profitable relationship with the ruli=
ng families of Saudi Arabia, including the bin Ladens. The best-seller =E2=
=80=9CHouse of Bush, House of Saud=E2=80=9D by Craig Unger, whom Moore inter=
views, estimates that the Saudis have enriched the Bushes and their closest=20=
cronies by $1.4 billion. <BR>
<BR>
Politicians reward their biggest contributors, and the Bushes are no excepti=
ons. Fifteen of the 19 September 11th hijackers were Saudis; but when Prince=
Bandar, the Saudi ambassador who is close to the First Family, dined with t=
he President in the White House two days after the attacks, the mood was col=
legial, not angry. In the Iraqi ramp-up and occupation, the Administration h=
as rewarded its Saudi and Texas supporters with billions in rebuilding contr=
acts. As Blaine Ober, president of an armored vehicle company, tells Moore:=20=
the Iraqi adventure is =E2=80=9Cgood for business, bad for the people.=E2=
=80=9D <BR>
<BR>
Bad for the people of Iraq, Ober means. But, Moore argues, bad for Americans=
as well. As he sees it, 9/11 was a tragedy for America, a career move for B=
ush. The attacks allowed the President to push through Congress restrictive=20=
laws that would have been defeated in any climate but the =E2=80=9Cwar on te=
rror=E2=80=9D chill. =E2=80=9CFahrenheit 9/11=E2=80=9D shows some tragicomic=
effects of the Patriot Act: a man quizzed by the FBI for casually mentionin=
g at his health club that he thought Bush was an =E2=80=9Casshole=E2=80=9D;=20=
a benign peace group in Fresno, Cal., infiltrated by an undercover police ag=
ent. <BR>
<BR>
Two Bush quotes in the film indicate the Administration=E2=80=99s quandary i=
n selling repression to the American people. One: =E2=80=9CA dictatorship wo=
uld be a heck of a lot easier, no doubt about it.=E2=80=9D The other: =E2=
=80=9CThey=E2=80=99re not happy they=E2=80=99re occupied. I wouldn=E2=80=99t=
be happy if I were occupied either.=E2=80=9D Moore=E2=80=99s argument is th=
at the U.S. is currently being occupied by a hostile, un-American force: the=
quintet of Bush, Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft and Paul Wolfowitz. <=
BR>
<BR>
Moore is usually the front-and-center star of his own films. Here, his prese=
nce is mostly that of narrator and guiding force, though he does make a few=20=
piquant appearances. While chatting with Unger across the street from the Sa=
udi embassy in Washington, he is approached and quizzed by Secret Service ag=
ents. Hearing from Rep. John Conyers that no member of Congress had read the=
complete Patriot Act before voting for it, he hires a Mister Softee truck a=
nd patrols downtown D.C. reading the act to members of Congress over a louds=
peaker. Toward the end, he tries to get Congressmen to enlist their sons in=20=
the military. Surprise: no volunteers. <BR>
<BR>
The film has its longueurs. The interviews with young blacks and a grieving=20=
mother in Moore=E2=80=99s home town of Flint, Michigan, are relevant and poi=
gnant, but they lack the propulsive force and homespun indignance of the res=
t of the film. =E2=80=9CFahrenheit 9/11=E2=80=9D is at its best when it prov=
ides talking points for the emerging majority of those opposed to the Iraq i=
ncursion. In sum, it=E2=80=99s an appalling, enthralling primer of what Moor=
e sees as the Bush Administration=E2=80=99s crimes and misdemeanors. <BR>
<BR>
=E2=80=9CFahrenheit 9/11=E2=80=9D may be seen as another example of the libe=
ral media preaching to its own choir. But Moore is such a clever assembler o=
f huge accusations and minor peccadillos (as with a shot of Wolfowitz sticki=
ng his pocket comb in his mouth and sucking on it to slick down his hair bef=
ore a TV interview) that the film should engage audiences of all political p=
ersuasions. <BR>
<BR>
In one sense, Michael Moore took George W. Bush=E2=80=99s advice. He found=20=
=E2=80=9Creal work=E2=80=9D deconstructing the President=E2=80=99s Iraq mist=
akes. =E2=80=9CFahrenheit 9/11=E2=80=9D is Moore=E2=80=99s own War on Error.=
<BR>
<BR>
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-------------------------------------------- <BR>
<BR>
V2020 Post by Ted Moffett<BR>
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