Fahrenheit 9/11
I just came back from the cinema where my friends and I got to see Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's documentary about the US government particularly the Bush administration. It was a really well-made documentary, very mind opening. I strongly suggest you all to go and see it. I will perhaps see it another time in order to grasp all of the information that the film presents.
One of the things I liked about this film was the way Moore had combined political facts with humour and entertainment. That is one of the main reasons he has got and will get a lot of attention from ordinary people. In contrast, the other documentary "Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara" was a bit boring and did not get much attention, even though the film carried a number of important messages and lessons to be learned. The humour and also the sound tracks Moore had chosen for different parts of his film were very suitable and caused bursts of laughter in the cinema.
The film is basically a sequence of related events, stories, and background stories put beside each other. All together they complete the image of a big puzzle and deliver important messages about the Bush administration, the elections, their past connections with each other and the Saudi Arabian royal family.
Fahrenheit 9/11 reminded me of some of the controversial political books that were published in Iran during the golden age of reform (just a few years ago) by people like Ganji and Baaghi. They gathered and intelligently put pieces of news beside each other - all taken from newspapers and conventional sources - and uncovered a lot of truth about the dark side of the Iranian government. Unfortunately the reform minded writers under-estimated the dark side and were sentenced to long prison terms for revealing too much information.
Also, the truth that was revealed by this film about the situation of the US government is somehow very similar to the problems we have with the Iranian government. The whole country is controlled by a group of people who control all the wealth, oil and money. They also control the media, at least most of it, and are well aware of the power of the "fear factor" in controlling of the society. Probably the biggest contrast between the Iranian and the American societies is that in Iran people simply don't believe in state-controlled media and seek news through alternative channels such as satellite televisions, the Internet, foreign radio stations et-cetera. Whereas in the States the mainstream media play a very important role in shaping the thoughts and beliefs of the mass.
Death is good, but only for the neighbour! This is a well-known Persian proverb that applies to the officials in both the US and Iranian governments. None of the senators liked Moore's idea of sending their sons to the frontline to Iraq. The same goes to the Iranian government; in the war time all the pure devotee young souls would go and sacrifice their blood for the foundations of the revolutionary government! The leaders of the revolution along with their friends and families will stay in their safe haven in the capital to enjoy the mountain breeze, eat water melons and of course protect the revolution! Well, it might not be fair to generalise this because some of them might have fought in the frontline of war with Iraq. But I'm almost sure that in another similar situation military service in the war zone would be compulsory for the people who have no connections and no money (to bribe), and sons of the officials in the Guardian and the Expediency Councils will probably go to New Zealand or Caribbean to stay away from danger and enjoy their lives.
The film uncovers the relationship between the Bush administration (Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice, ...) and the Saudi Royals, the Bin Ladens, Hamed Karzai and Zalmay Khalilzad of Afghanistan, and tries to show how this old business relationship formed the invasion of Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq. I personally knew that Zalmay Khalilzad and Karzai had worked as advisors for Bush's oil companies before, but I had no idea about the extend of relationship between the Bin Laden family and Bush's oil businesses. It's quite shocking when you see how the Bush administration sacrificed national interests for the sake of their own business interests. Apart from the Saudis, the film also brought to the attention of the viewers the connection between the US government and Saddam and the Talibans. Sigh, someone finally did this!
Instead of making a boring chess-like political analysis, Fahrenheit 9/11 focuses on real human issues such as life and death. It clearly shows how greed and power make politicians blind and allow them to play with thousands of precious human lives. Even many of us see war and politics as a game. Quotes like "only 500 people were killed" just drive me mad, how can someone accept the death of a single person as a legitimate incident, especially in a war that is totally about money and power? The problem is that for people who are far from the frontline, war is displayed in a very Hollywood fashion: reports with music and especial effects, 3D banners, TV reps reporting the war as if it is a computer game or the latest box office hit. Moore's interview with young soldiers in the frontline was one of the most important parts of it. Those young lads who drove tanks and patrol jeeps did not expect real explosions, burnt and disintegrated bodies. It was vital to show the miserable situation of both the soldiers and the people as "real human beings" who had been put in deep trouble only because of the interests of a bunch of greedy businessmen.
I wish he had gone more into the detail about the Senate, and how all bills are signed without even being read by the senators.
Also I wish he had focused more on my favourite character: Donald Rumsfeld, the politician who lies constantly! OK most politicians lie, but he is just in a different class. He's such a good subject for jokes and cartoons. Tony Blair was also absent from the film apart from one occasion when he was portrayed as a cowboy in the "Mother of all coalitions" — as Rumsfeld called it.
Moore may not be a hardcore political analyst or sociologist, but he's certainly a good documentary maker. He uncovered a lot of truth by perfectly re-arranging the stories of his subjects, focused on the human values, and dismissed the technicalities and excuses which politicians usually use to justify their behaviour.
i saw the film a couple of nights ago. and i have to say it was a rather great film. it was much better than i had thought (i went in with alot of cynicism). but in the end i stil wonder... i can't call it a documentary. it's more of a personal videographic editorial. and the second half of the movie is just way too emotionally manipulative to be considered a documentary. but still a very organised and coherent effort.
Comments