Filmmakers’ Theories: Micheal Moore
Micheal Moore is a 2 time Oscar winning documentary filmmaker. His most notable pieces of work are Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko, and Bowling for Columbine. Moore was born in 1954 and grew up in Flint, Michigan. Thanks to his working class background, strong education, and the time he grew up in, Moore developed a set of Left-wing populist views.
The subject of Moore’s documentaries often leads back to politics and the US government, and in particular its failures. This can be seen in Bowling for Columbine which focuses on US gun culture, Fahrenheit 9/11 which focuses on how ugly and mishandled the war on terror was (with a particular emphasis on how awful George W. Bush was as president), and Sicko which explores the US healthcare crisis. Moore is extremely outspoken about his political views, which he makes no effort to hide in his documentaries.
In general, Micheal Moore’s films use Bill Nichols’ performative mode of documentary filmmaking. Moore is heavily present throughout his films, and uses his deceptively inviting Everyman persona to produce powerful and shocking interviews. One moment that sticks out is when Moore interviewed Charlton Heston, then president of the NRA, and manages to fool him into opening up about how he believes multiculturalism is to blame for gun crime.
Moore also uses humour amongst the more serious moments in order to draw the viewer into his message and make it more stomachable. For example, in Fahrenheit 9/11, Moore interviews leading US politicians and asks them why none of their children signed up to fight in the Iraq war. This produces some funny reactions, but it’s also quite revealing and shows how hypocritical many politicians are.
Montage is also a prominent feature of Micheal Moore’s films. For example, in Bowling for Columbine, there is a montage which shows many of the major ‘mistakes’ of the US government leading up to the September 11th attacks. This montage aims to show the viewer much of the violent events caused/aided by the US in recent history, and how Eric and Dylan are just as likely to have been influenced by these events as Marilyn Manson and South Park. These montages allow more to effectively communicate his point in a dense, efficient, comedic, and horrifying way.
Micheal Moore is a deeply divisive figure, but one with an undoubtedly effective filmmaking theory that allows him to spark discussion about important political issues.