Marianne · 2004
Moore’s Passion
Translated from the French. Original: Marianne, May 26, 2004 · French version
Moore’s Passion
May 26, 2004
New York, David Benaym
Nothing like a good controversy to launch a film in theatres in the United States. Seen as a left-wing pamphlet, Fahrenheit 9/11 does not yet have an official release date across the Atlantic. The Palme d’Or received in Cannes only fuels the competition for it.
A few months ago, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ made the headlines for its extremist leanings and the successful self-distribution set up by its director. Here, the talk is rather of left-wing outrage with Michael Moore’s politically incorrect documentary. Despite his Oscar for Bowling for Columbine, Moore is far from unanimously liked in the United States. Considered a “left-wing clown” by the New York Post, his remarks are not taken seriously, even by anti-Bush voters. Americans do not want a spokesman who lacks credibility. A regular on confrontational TV shows, Moore represents leftist extremism more than the voice of reason. On the celebrity side, the Democrats prefer the likes of Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, more presentable in the eyes of the general public. The thing is, Moore does not support John Kerry; he is just “anti-Bush”.
Yet the US press underlines the courage of its director. The very right-wing
Houston Chronicle notes that “the documentary contains images that the broadcast media did not dare to show. The evidence concerning the relations between the Bush family and the Saudi rulers is unsettling.”
But beyond the substance, it is the distribution that is the real problem. Before its success in Cannes, the Walt Disney Co announced its refusal to distribute a political film, while Miramax, the film’s co-producer, fought for the documentary to reach theatres before next November’s presidential election. Mel Gibson, a producer of Fahrenheit 9/11 at the origin of the project through Icon Productions, very nearly made Michael Moore happy with the distribution network that made the success of The Passion… The extremes could have got along well and pulled off a great media coup.
DB