[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [SRRTAC-L:13899] Re: Wild Applause for
Fahrenheit 911
Alfred Kagan
akagan at uiuc.edu
Wed May 19 10:47:23 CDT 2004
>Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 14:56:07 -0400
>From: "Maurice J. Freedman" <freedman at wlsmail.org>
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>Subject: [SRRTAC-L:13899] Re: Wild Applause for Fahrenheit 911
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>Here's the NY Times take on Moore and Fahrenheit
>9/11, an extremely positive one considering the
>newspaper.
>
><http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/movies/18CANN.html>http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/movies/18CANN.html
>
>CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK
>History and Outrage in Films at Cannes
>By A. O. SCOTT
>
>Published: May 18, 2004
>
>CANNES, France, May 17 — At the 57th Cannes
>International Film Festival, which reached its
>midpoint on Monday, Michael Moore has often
>seemed to be everywhere, exceeded in ubiquity
>only by the gruesomely costumed street
>performers from Troma Entertainment and by
>Quentin Tarantino, who directed one
>out-of-competition selection ("Kill Bill: Vol.
>2"), appears in another (Xan Cassavetes's
>documentary "Z Channel") and is presiding over
>the competition jury.
>
>On Sunday Mr. Tarantino, accompanied by Sofia
>Coppola, showed up at a screening of Ms.
>Cassavetes's film, which tells the story of a
>Los Angeles cable channel and its chief
>programmer, Jerry Harvey. The channel went dark
>in 1988 after Mr. Harvey killed himself and his
>wife, but in the early days of cable television
>it was a cinephile's paradise, showing uncut
>versions of European films and neglected works
>by American masters, and anything else that
>struck Mr. Harvey's fancy.
>
>Ms. Cassavetes deftly weaves together interviews
>(including some with an exuberant Mr. Tarantino)
>with clips from some of those films, and the
>result is an illuminating and invigorating
>excursion into film history. You might say the
>same about the screening itself, since the front
>row of the Salle Buñuel was a tableau of
>second-generation New Hollywood: Mr. Tarantino,
>Ms. Coppola and her brother Roman, and of course
>Ms. Cassavetes herself, who is the middle child
>of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands.
>
>A Scorching Broadside
>
>But back to Mr. Moore, whose new film,
>"Fahrenheit 9/11," a scorching broadside against
>the presidency of George W. Bush, has received
>so little attention. On Monday it was at last
>screened for the press and the public. The
>audience at the afternoon gala screening
>responded with a 20-minute standing ovation that
>the festival's artistic director, Thierry
>Frémaux, said was the longest he had ever
>witnessed in Cannes.
>
>Meanwhile the Mediterranean air has been thick
>with rumors about how, and when, the film will
>reach American audiences. The most persistent is
>that the heads of Miramax films, Harvey and Bob
>Weinstein, are trying to organize a consortium
>of American companies to ensure its wide and
>timely release. (Disney, which owns Miramax,
>refused to allow the company to release it, but
>later agreed to sell it back to the Weinsteins,
>though they are not allowed to release it as a
>Miramax film.)
>
>Mr. Moore may be a frequent sight in Cannes, but
>one of the most striking things about
>"Fahrenheit 9/11" is how little he appears in
>it. One complaint about some of his early films
>— my main complaint about "Bowling for
>Columbine," at any rate — was that he sometimes
>gets in the way of his own arguments by making
>his films too much about himself. Perhaps
>because of the extreme gravity of the subject,
>his on-camera appearances this time are limited
>to a sparse handful of the good-humored
>man-on-the-street stunts that have been his
>trademark since "Roger and Me." (In one scene he
>approaches members of Congress and tries to
>persuade them to enlist their own children in
>the armed forces.)
>
>The content of "Fahrenheit 9/11," which begins
>on election night in 2000 and was completed only
>10 days before arriving in Cannes, is not
>entirely unfamiliar. Its bill of particulars
>against Mr. Bush can be found in a number of
>recently published books, and it is
>unapologetically polemical. It is also the best
>film Mr. Moore has made so far, a powerful and
>passionate expression of outraged patriotism,
>leavened with humor and freighted with sorrow.
>Yes, I said patriotism, though there will
>inevitably be those, pointing to the film's
>enthusiastic reception in France, who will
>insist that it is the opposite. They should
>(unlike Disney's board of directors) see it
>first.
>
>I will not summarize or quarrel with the movie's
>points here; there will be time for that when it
>arrives in the United States. I will say what
>surprised me most about it. We all know Mr.
>Moore as a polemicist and a muckraker, and
>according to our views and tastes we revile,
>lionize or equivocate about him as such. (For my
>part I've mostly been among the equivocators).
>
>"Fahrenheit 9/11," his most disciplined and
>powerful movie to date, suggests that he is
>also, arguably, a great filmmaker. Using
>interviews and archival video clips (including a
>tape made by the staff at the Florida elementary
>school Mr. Bush was visiting on the morning of
>Sept. 11, 2001), he has assembled a moving and
>invigorating documentary. Is it partisan? Of
>course. But there are not many important films
>that haven't been.
>
>Dana Lubow wrote:
>
>>nytr at tania.blythe-systems.com
>>Subject: Wild Applause for Fahrenheit 911
>>
>>Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
>>
>>The Telegraph (UK) - May 18, 2004
>><http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml==/news/2004/05/18/wcann118.xml&sSheet==/news/2004/05/18/ixnewstop.html>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml==/news/2004/05/18/wcann118.xml&sSheet==/news/2004/05/18/ixnewstop.html
>>
>>Moore unveils his anti-Bush tirade to wild applause
>>
>>By Hugh Davies
>>
>>Michael Moore, the maverick director from Michigan, finally unveiled his
>>inflammatory anti-war documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 to sustained applause at
>>the Cannes film festival yesterday.
>>
>>The audience chortled at the depiction of the Bush administration as
>>cowboys riding into Iraq to the theme tune from the television show Bonanza.
>>Tony Blair is portrayed as their Stetson-wearing sidekick, bowlegged and
>>clad in full Western gear with six-guns at his hip, jumping up and down like
>>a puppet.
>>
>>Moore, who won an Oscar for Bowling for Columbine, was cheered as he entered
>>a press conference but had difficulty explaining why Mel Gibson's Icon
>>pictures, the original financiers, had dropped the project, suggesting that
>>the actor was pressured by the White House. Icon denies this.
>>
>>The financing was taken over by Harvey Weinstein's Miramax, which is owned
>>by Disney. The studio is now refusing to handle the distribution, fearing
>>that the film, with its liberal bias and sly one-sided portrayal of Bush
>>might affect his re-election run in November.
>>
>>Moore confessed that he let Blair off lightly as he was mainly aiming "to
>>fix" what was happening in Washington. "The problem is in the White House,
>>and not at No 10 Downing Street.
>>
>>"Although I have to say that what has always depressed me about Tony Blair
>>is that he knows better. At least, one thing you can say about Blair is that
>>he's smart. What's he doing hanging out with a guy like George W Bush? I
>>have just never understood that. They are the weirdest couple."
>>
>>Taken from Ray Bradbury's book Fahrenheit 451, the temperature needed to
>>burn books in an anti-Utopian society, Moore says his film is about the
>>temperature in which freedom burns.
>>
>>Copyright (c) 2004 Telegraph Group, Ltd.
>>
>> ***
>>
>>The Herald (UK) - May 18, 2004
>><http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/16279.html>http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/16279.html
>>
>>Fahrenheit 911: Unexpectedly bold and moving piece of work
>>
>>by Hannah McGill
>>
>>THE Oscar-winning American documentarist Michael Moore gave Cannes 2004
>>itsfirst whiff of genuine scandal yesterday, as his latest controversial
>>state ofthe nation address received its first screenings.
>>
>>Scuffles broke out at press screenings, as most of the 4000 international
>>journalists covering the festival scrabbled to claim seats.
>>
>>Meanwhile, those other films unfortunate enough to be programmed on the same
>>day
>>– including the only Scottish film in the festival, Shona Auerbach's Dear
>>Frankie – were left with empty seats and muted responses.
>>
>>Entitled Fahrenheit 9/11, Moore's film takes the temperature of
>>post-September11 America, as well as revealing the extensive business links
>>between thefamilies of George W Bush and Osama Bin Laden, and seeking out
>>the rather moreelusive connections between the 2001 terrorist attacks and
>>the war in Iraq.
>>
>>Like its celebrated predecessor, Bowling For Columbine – an exploration of
>>the American love affair with firearms, framed around the Columbine High
>>School massacre – Fahrenheit 9/11 is a baggy, eccentric, unashamedly
>>partisan animal,which makes its many points with broad strokes and even
>>broader humour.
>>
>>However, it's also an audacious, angry, and unexpectedly moving piece of
>>work, the boldness and relevance of which few could deny.
>>
>>Bursting at the seams with information, statistics, interviews, news clips
>>andharrowing unseen footage from inside Iraq, Fahrenheit 9/11 begins by
>>querying, in Moore's trademark faux-naïve style, the virtual coup d'etat
>>whereby the current American president took power.
>>
>>Moore then moves into more subversive territory, detailing the friendly
>>relationship between the oil-rich Saudi Arabian elite and the Bush clan, and
>>questioning how much effort has really gone into the search for Osama Bin
>>Laden.His humour is infectious, but deadly; he never misses an opportunity
>>to mock Bush's buffoonish public persona, but his concerns are real, as
>>becomes
>>painfully evident when he shows graphic footage of Iraqi civilian
>>casualties, as
>>well as the first video material showing the humiliation and abuse of
>>Iraqis by
>>American soldiers.
>>
>>Moore's extended interview with the innocently patriotic but wholly betrayed
>>mother of a dead American soldier also pulls no emotional punches, although
>>this line of inquiry takes a blackly comic turn when he pursues American
>>Congressmen in an effort to persuade them to sign their own children up for
>>combat in Iraq.
>>
>>The film concludes on a moving note, as Moore notes that it is America's
>>have-nots who are most ready to step into the line of fire in its defence.
>>
>>"All that they ask in return is that we never send them into harm's way
>>unless it's absolutely necessary‚" he states. "Will they ever trust us
>>again?"
>>
>>In a less than trusting mood is Disney, which sold the film back to
>>producers Miramax after viewing it, leaving it without US distribution. Also
>>off the project, for different reasons, are the UK public relations firm
>>McDonald and Rutter, which was to represent the film, but pulled out on
>>Sunday, due to alleged difficulties with Miramax and Michael Moore himself.
>>
>>Moore, meanwhile, remains confident that the film will find US distribution
>>(and a new PR firm, presumably) before the next presidential election.
>>
>>Copyright © 2004 Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights
>>Reserved
>> *
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>>
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>>e-mail: nyt at blythe.org
>>
>>*********
>>Dana Lubow
>>L.A. Valley College Library
>>
>>"Hungry man reach for the books, it is a weapon" - Bertolt Brecht
>>
>>The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations establishes
>>that all people have the right to self-determination and national
>>sovereignty.
>>
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>>
>--
>mitch
>Maurice J. Freedman, MLS, PhD
>Immediate Past-President, American Library Association
>Director, Westchester Library System
>
><http://www.mjfreedman.org>http://www.mjfreedman.org
>freedman at wlsmail.org
>
>Director, Westchester Library System
>410 Saw Mill River Road - Suite 1000
>Ardsley, NY 10502-2605 USA
>Voice: (914) 231-3223; fax: (914) 674-4193
>www.westchesterlibraries.org
>
>For all matters concerning
>the U*N*A*B*A*S*H*E*D Librarian
>the 'how I run my library good' letter
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>Box 325
>Mount Kisco NY 10549 USA
>Fax: 1-914-244-0941
>*******************************************************************
>"I'll be seeing you, in all the old familiar places..."
>
--
Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA
tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu
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