Really, though, how incendiary can a film be these days? I mean, shit, there've been radical documentary flicks for as long as anyone cares to remember, from Triumph Of The Will to that Vietnamese number what suggested LBJ was born of a cow. The difference, perhaps, is that F*9/11 is not being marketed as a propaganda film, which it certainly is. It's not even being marketed as a documentary. It's being marketed as an "event picture". It's one of those things you have to see, and just as The Passion filled seats with people who would otherwise puke their guts up at the sight of a subtitle, so Fahrenheit 9/11 will find an audience beyond the regular crowd for the documentary features, a crowd which is, admittedly, growing ever larger.
Moore needs to tighten the reigns a little, and Fahrenheit 9/11 would be twice the film at half the length, but in all other respects he is prodigiously talented. Fahrenheit 9/11 incorporates elements of journalism, satire, political farce and conspiracy theory, adds a wallop of melodrama and a fair dollop of the detective drama. It's a hybrid picture, a film as content at jumping from genre to genre as that film about Uma Thurman kills folks in a night-club.
It's a film that has got people openly debating things like editing and journalistic ethics. For all the box office receipts, I can't remember a single motherfucker talking about the editing when they came out of Titanic.
Thanks Michael Moore.
The Duke resides at Mondo Irlando
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Article comments
1 - Chris Kent
Great work El Senor Duke. I appreciated your contrast between 911 and The Passion and a critique of the filmmaking prowess in addition to the politics. One of my favorite posts of yours.
I've seen Canadian Bacon. Very poor, and established Moore had better keep his job in the documentary arena.....
2 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Chris, thanks for the kind words! I think the comparison between this and Mel's exploitation flick is a worthwhile one, and thanks for confirming it.
I'll probably get a peek at canadian bacon sometime in the future, but i've heard many bad things, and you've just added to it lol.
But who knows? Maybe The Duke will think it's a damn masterpiece or something. Wouldn't be the first instance of such!
3 - Lono
Duke,
I just saw the movie tonight, and am an admitted huge fan of Moore's work... so of course I enjoyed it. One thing I thought was kinda tacky, and as a result should have been the first thing the right wingers charged on is this: he used pictures of dead babies and wounded civilians to make a point about this war. That was dumb... that stuff happens with EVERY war and it is something nobody wants or strives for. Bush has done more than enough evil shit against America to further his agenda of corporate greed and wealth that we don't need to be patronized to get the message. Geesh, that was well stated on my behalf... perhaps I should shit out a full piece on the movie myself. nah... too many already. I always enjoy your writing, and there is a huge homage to you in a very recent piece I wrote. I just can't remember which one... probably the latest Dead piece.
4 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Lono, thank you!
I searched through your blog, but couldn't find the article in question. The blog is iamcorrect, yeah? But praise the lrod, since what i found was enough to keep me occupied for longer than is socially acceptable. you are a fantastic writer, and the "from the road" entries were especially wonderful. Thank you.