Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
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Fahrenheit 9/11 Movie Review
Fahrenheit 9/11 is a 2004 documentary film directed by Michael Moore. It’s a deeply one-sided, but provocative and powerful feature.
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“I think we should just trust our president
in every decision that he makes
and we should just support that“
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The movie takes a critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the war in Iraq, and its coverage in the media. I had known some of these things before, but the film taught me a lot about this tumultuous time period in America history. And it has the power to open your eyes while also making you enraged and provoked.
Michael Moore is a staunch Democrat. There is no getting around that. Thus, he approached this movie as he approaches every other movie – with a biased attitude toward this particular president and with a very angry, at times even mocking tone directed against him. That can be too much, and it is often way too difficult to handle, but it is also fun.
Yes, I found the humor here rather interesting. There wasn’t a lot of it, but certainly some segments incorporated a lot of intriguingly sardonic, excellent humor that appealed to me personally. The way he notices small details and uses them to make fun of Bush and his administration is very amusing.
However, that is where he went way overboard. Some scenes here are frustrating how fabricated they seemed as Moore basically made some very slippery slope kind of arguments and went with those, resulting in a movie that is not only biased, but ridiculously aggressive and simply not truthful in many of its parts.
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But those scenes that tell the truth are downright powerful, and those make the film as interesting as it is. It’s eye-opening seeing the connections that he had with the Saudis, it’s disheartening that a president of such an important country would be so money-hungry and seeking vacation after vacation, and the whole 9/11 controversy and conspiracy theories angle is thought-provoking and downright disturbing.
But I personally respected the emphasis on the foolishness of the Iraq war the most. Moore showcases so well how horrible US foreign policy can be, and how most of the reasons for their starting wars in foreign countries are not sound enough and are overly manipulated by the media in particular.
The best and most iconic scene in Fahrenheit 9/11 definitely has to be that briefing sequence. Bush is told while lecturing elementary school children that the country is under attack and he just continues to sit and do nothing while you can clearly see a thousand thoughts forming in his head. He sat there and waited for other more thorough information to come around.
This is the finest example of the power of this movie. While Moore himself obviously entirely blamed Bush for sitting and doing nothing, faltering at the time of crisis, others can pinpoint how he was calculated and calm, thus appearing strong and dignified at the most crucial time where his citizens should see a good example being set.
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The entire movie has that power to make you enraged, but also to make you think for yourself and to engage in complicated discussions afterward with friends and family about your own thoughts and what you make of this sometimes accurate, at times widely fabricated motion picture. The movie itself is also stupendously paced and edited, and although too long, it’s mostly quite an engaging, powerful watch. His narration is also terrific as is his direction.
Being a staunch democrat himself, Michael Moore’s films are obviously very biased, resulting in Fahrenheit 9/11 being ridiculously fabricated and blown out of proportion in many of its scenes. However, many other segments are definitely true, the film is eye-opening in the many horrible revelations about Bush and his administration, their relations with the Saudis and the complicated, dark background behind the 9/11 attack. It’s a one-sided, but still highly provocative film that has the power to make you think and make you enraged at the same time. Its sporadic sardonic humor is also a major strength.
