Fahrenheit 11/9

Over the years, I’ve seen a good number of Michael Moore’s films, starting with “Roger and Me” back in the distant past (I have fond memories of seeing that from the first row of the original Varsity theatre, staring straight up at the screen). While I’ve enjoyed most of them, at his worst he plays a bit too much to the choir (“Where to Invade Next”) really suffered from that.

So it was with a little trepidation that I approached his take on the Trump “era”.  Given the latest news from the States with Woodward’s book, I figured that the Q&A would at least be interesting.

The film shows both the best and worst of his style. Actually, it felt like four films loosely coupled into a single screening. They were:

- the election and how he and we got there (this is what the description in the catalogue focussed on)
- the on-going emergency situation with the water supply in Flint, Michigan, his hometown
- the rise of the Democratic Socialist / progressive movement in the US, including the work of the Parkland high school students
- parallels between the US and the rise of Trump and Germany of the early 1930’s and the rise of Hitler

Of the four, the story in Flint is the strongest, best presented and most upsetting, followed by the emergence of a strong progressive movement in the lead-up to the American midterms. The other two are a little flimsy, especially the final section. With respect to the latter, he loses the focus of the stronger sections and indulges himself by combining Trump’s speeches with film of Hitler.

The Q&A was conducted with three of the students from Parkland and a whistleblower from Flint. The students’ poise was exceptional even if they seemed to forget that they were speaking to a foreign audience.

The film opens in a couple of weeks. The Flint story deserves to be heard and it’s worth seeing as a (recognizably biased) reflection of the State of the Union.

Later this week, there will be an interesting juxtaposition with “American Dharma”, the latest Errol Morris film. The film is an interview with Steve Bannon, the dark prince behind the Orange One.  The film appeared at Venice last week and has been quite controversial, with Morris being accused by some of giving a platform to Bannon’s views.