Kat's Film Reviews: Fahrenheit 9/11

Thursday, July 08, 2004

Fahrenheit 9/11

It's so difficult to write this review. I seem to have a fragmented memory of watching this film. I remember laughing very hard in places, clapping in some, feeling mostly appalled by our government throughout, and at times wondering how Michael Moore gets away with scenes that so clearly manipulate your emotions. (Especially the scenes of pre-war Baghdad in March of last year. OK, we get it.) A reviewer friend of mine figures he'll write two pieces on the film, one a review specific to the craft and the other a rant on what you learn as you watch it. That's not what I'm going to do. Instead, most of what I was thinking during the film was who would be watching it and what they would come away from the film believing. The hoo-hah that preceded the theatrical release (Disney wouldn't release it; it won the Cannes Palme d'Or; Lions Gate decides to release it) nearly guaranteed the huge turnout for the film. One of the best things that can happen to a film's profit margin is controversy (look at The Passion of the Christ). Having looked at some of the votes on IMDB for the film in the first few days, it was clear to me that the publicity was bringing non-liberals to see it. The votes were nearly evenly split between "loved it" and "hated it." (Why there are more "loved it" votes now could be an interesting thesis dissertation.) I think that's all around a good thing; more of the American public that sees the film, the better. Even though I felt annoyed by Moore's attempts to manipulate my feelings at times, and worried that as usual in his films we're seeing his very biased viewpoint, there is no doubt that most of what he shows us is worth getting upset about. I won't talk about the content here -- I think everyone should see it for themselves and judge for themselves. But go and see it. It's a valuable piece of work.

year: 2004
length: 122 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361596/combined

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