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Michael Moore’s film ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ is finally in Malta! I don’t know why it took so long to get here, when one boasts that under a week of its release, a film can be viewed in Malta. To be honest, I must say that I had the wicked feeling of not being able to see it in Malta before November 2! Don’t know why, but perhaps I thought it was too hot to handle! The film, which won the 2004 Cannes Film Festival top prize, (all the artists on the Cannes Film Festival jury apparently voted unanimously to award it the ‘Palme d’Or’) saw its opening day on the 25 June.
A Republican PR firm has formed a fake grassroots front group called the ‘Move America Forward’ to harass and intimidate theatre owners into not showing ‘Fahrenheit 9/11,’ and they have been sending tons of money to movie theatre owners who even think of showing the film. There has also been a case of a theatre owner in Illinois who has reportedly been receiving death threats. But we in Malta don’t have anything of that sort, do we?
Disney refused to distribute the film and consequently serious questions were raised regarding free speech, the studio-owned so-called ‘independents,’ and the fate of Disney. However, in spite of all obstacles the film has already grossed $120 million in US cinemas.
‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ is astounding. Not as much as a film – although it is cunning and moving – but as an event. What makes it an event is the fact that it is an effective and independent intervention into immediate world politics. It is also a historical landmark. It is a work inspired by hope.
The film is an attack on Bush and sorrowfully it is really and truly accurate. It is a patriotic work. All the statements formulated in the film have been factually backed-up.
Granted this film has a political agenda, but as Moore himself said, “I don’t like the idea that this film be reduced to Bush vs Kerry. The issues in it are larger than that… When Clinton was President, I went after him and, if Kerry is President, on day two, I’ll be on him.”
It is Leftist propaganda! Well, you would think so if you are a pawn in the Right’s hand. However, to denigrate it as propaganda is either naïve or perverse, forgetting (deliberately?) what the last century should have taught us.
But Moore’s barbs aren’t aimed just at President Bush. “The unstated villain in the film is the national American media,” he states.
When you only listen to one voice or one side, your truth tends to be what they want it to be. In this case, they all do it for us, all of them: CNN - BBC - RAI - CBS - FOX, as well as most of all the other American and European media. Why is it that the same so-called reporters who led the cheer for war are suddenly interested in checking Moore’s facts?
The fact that a number of ultra-right-wing commentators are out to get Michael Moore justifies the fact that Moore has ‘spilled the beans’ and blasted ‘the American Dream.’
The first casualty when war comes is truth!
Irrespective of the criticism on the film, the stark fact remains that the 9/11 Commission confirms all the key ‘Fahrenheit’ 9/11 facts.
The film fills the void that the Bush White House left open when it came to explaining the war on Iraq.
“I don’t need Michael Moore to tell me about 9/11,” said Mr. Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor, during his campaign for Bush. But perhaps we do! Well, maybe Mr. Giuliani doesn’t, maybe he even knows more than what Michael Moore has shown us, but evidently the American people don’t and they have a right to know and so does all the rest of the world. Quite rightly, Moore acknowledges that America to-day is “living in fictitious times, where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president.”
The film appeals to all people to think for themselves and make connections. After viewing the film, I heard myself sighing, “So that is why… ” With his film, Michael became a people’s tribune.
However, there was one thing which I personally considered as ‘a missing link.’ I found that the film never ventures onto really tough turf - namely the role of fiercely pro-Israel neo-con hawks in convincing Bush to go to war. The omission of the pro-Israeli rationale for war compromises the film’s artistic and political integrity. Unfortunately, and ironically, the selective finger pointing at Saudi Arabia, while letting Israel off the hook gives credence to anti-Arab sentiments.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
“The war is not meant to be won, the war is meant to be continuous,” is Moore’s final wake-up call and warning.
Please God, make this film disappear. The truth is too hard to face.
Joseph M Cachia
Via e-mail
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