OMEN
08-25-2007, 10:00 AM
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MOORE BOWLING: A new documentary about controversial filmmaker Michael Moore shows how hard it is to tackle the elusive liberal in interviews.
It comes as no surprise that controversial filmmaker Michael Moore shirks interviews with documentarians.
In most cases, his so-called contemporaries are out to discredit, embarrass or at least satirise him and his work.
But when Canadian filmmakers Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine decided the Oscar-winner was worthy of their attention, they had honourable motives.
After making a film about fallen media mogul Conrad Black, Melnyk says she and her filmmaking partner-husband were looking forward to a "lighter" topic.
They were well aware that Moore was an alienating figure but were fans of his left-leaning work that has made him the world's most successful documentarian.
Some critics hate Moore for his political allegiances. Others are disappointed when they see proof of him fabricating some part of his films for dramatic effect, which would be fine did he not pass the events off as real.
Regardless, Melnyk and Caine decided they would deliver a balanced portrait of the man.
You'd think that would give them a chance at landing an interview with the man himself.
But just like Moore did with General Motors boss Roger Smith in his breakthrough film Roger and Me, Melnyk pursued her subject almost in vain.
"We're not right-wingers and we've got a pretty good record as journalists and filmmakers, so we weren't out to do a hatchet job," Melnyk says.
But in making their film, which they would later call Manufacturing Dissent, they learned some of what critics had said about Moore was justified.
Melnyk says once they had started their film, they discovered the many films which had been made on the same topic.
"The immediate thought would have been to cease production," Melnyk says.
"But on the contrary, while the films were about the same man, they had vastly different intentions.
"They were so horrible, it was just the right-wing Republicans being really nasty, which wasn't what we were doing."
Films about Moore have become a genre unto themselves.
Michael and Me was made by radio and TV talk show host Larry Elder with the sole intention of discrediting Moore's Academy Award-winning Bowling For Columbine.
Celsius 41.11: The Temperature at Which the Brain Begins to Die and another film FahrenHYPE 9/11 are rebuttals to Moore's hugely successful Farenheit 9/11, which criticises the war in Iraq.
Michael Moore Hates America, while humorous, is still an attack on the man in the context of his role in political discourse in the United States.
Melnyk says based on this, she and Caine wanted to give Moore his own chance to rebut, and paint an even-handed picture of the filmmaker.
She says some sources for the film were cut out if they seemed to have an agenda. A so-called school friend of Moore's, Kevin Leffler, was probably the most high-profile omission.
His scathing film Shooting Michael Moore won the audience choice award at the Flint Film Festival, in Moore's home town.
"He was school friends with him so he had some interesting stories, but there was this underlying feeling that he was angry that Michael was doing well and he became an accountant and was an honest person," Melnyk says of Leffler.
"If we thought the people didn't have an agenda and were being honest, we put them in the film, but if you see Kevin's film, it's crazy.
"He actually shows the address of Moore's house, which is totally irresponsible."
In Manufacturing Dissent, one friend describes Moore as a "megalomaniac with a touch of paranoia". On the flipside, it shows a young man campaigning to get Moore on his school's honour roll. Rather than include Moore, they took down the roll.
The filmmakers are ousted from several Moore appearances and continually fail to sit their subject down for a chat during the film.
In fairness to Moore, he has addressed his critics. But on his website, not to journalists keen to challenge his claims.
When Melnyk gets access to Moore, sheepishly door-stopping him at another public appearance, he brushes off questions about his private foundation owning shares in Halliburton - the contracting company once run by US Vice-President Dick Cheney - which it did.
He then gives her a demeaning hug, tells her he loves Canadians, and high-tails it out of there.
The film includes a telling interview from 1995 in which CBC journalist David Gilmour revealed a decidedly insecure side to Moore when he questioned the quality of his film Canadian Bacon.
Melnyk says she agrees with Moore's motives and appreciates the points he makes in his films, such as his latest Sicko, which lambasts the American public healthcare system.
But his slight embellishments, taking interview subjects out of context, or in some cases outright lies, bring his credibility crashing down, Melnyk says.
"I'm very disillusioned by Michael," she says in hindsight.
"What he portrays is a facade. Sure, he's a showman and there's elements you should expect of that. But I didn't expect him to behave the way he did.
"When we discovered some of things he did we just figured there's no reason to make things up and lie in his films."
In taking an even-handed approach, Manufacturing Dissent is probably the most damning of all the films that have tackled the subject of Moore and his films.
Former friend and union activist Jim Musselman confirms that before releasing Roger and Me, Moore actually met with Smith twice, one encounter lasting for 20 minutes.
He claims Moore asked him to bury the footage, as being dodged by Smith was the narrative thread to Roger and Me.
Melnyk calls Smith direct on the phone in her film. He is not so elusive after all.
Musselman also discredits another famous scene from Roger and Me, when Moore's microphone is cut off before he could ask a question at a General Motors shareholder meeting.
He says the entire scene was staged for the camera. Which Smith verifies.
AAP
MOORE BOWLING: A new documentary about controversial filmmaker Michael Moore shows how hard it is to tackle the elusive liberal in interviews.
It comes as no surprise that controversial filmmaker Michael Moore shirks interviews with documentarians.
In most cases, his so-called contemporaries are out to discredit, embarrass or at least satirise him and his work.
But when Canadian filmmakers Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine decided the Oscar-winner was worthy of their attention, they had honourable motives.
After making a film about fallen media mogul Conrad Black, Melnyk says she and her filmmaking partner-husband were looking forward to a "lighter" topic.
They were well aware that Moore was an alienating figure but were fans of his left-leaning work that has made him the world's most successful documentarian.
Some critics hate Moore for his political allegiances. Others are disappointed when they see proof of him fabricating some part of his films for dramatic effect, which would be fine did he not pass the events off as real.
Regardless, Melnyk and Caine decided they would deliver a balanced portrait of the man.
You'd think that would give them a chance at landing an interview with the man himself.
But just like Moore did with General Motors boss Roger Smith in his breakthrough film Roger and Me, Melnyk pursued her subject almost in vain.
"We're not right-wingers and we've got a pretty good record as journalists and filmmakers, so we weren't out to do a hatchet job," Melnyk says.
But in making their film, which they would later call Manufacturing Dissent, they learned some of what critics had said about Moore was justified.
Melnyk says once they had started their film, they discovered the many films which had been made on the same topic.
"The immediate thought would have been to cease production," Melnyk says.
"But on the contrary, while the films were about the same man, they had vastly different intentions.
"They were so horrible, it was just the right-wing Republicans being really nasty, which wasn't what we were doing."
Films about Moore have become a genre unto themselves.
Michael and Me was made by radio and TV talk show host Larry Elder with the sole intention of discrediting Moore's Academy Award-winning Bowling For Columbine.
Celsius 41.11: The Temperature at Which the Brain Begins to Die and another film FahrenHYPE 9/11 are rebuttals to Moore's hugely successful Farenheit 9/11, which criticises the war in Iraq.
Michael Moore Hates America, while humorous, is still an attack on the man in the context of his role in political discourse in the United States.
Melnyk says based on this, she and Caine wanted to give Moore his own chance to rebut, and paint an even-handed picture of the filmmaker.
She says some sources for the film were cut out if they seemed to have an agenda. A so-called school friend of Moore's, Kevin Leffler, was probably the most high-profile omission.
His scathing film Shooting Michael Moore won the audience choice award at the Flint Film Festival, in Moore's home town.
"He was school friends with him so he had some interesting stories, but there was this underlying feeling that he was angry that Michael was doing well and he became an accountant and was an honest person," Melnyk says of Leffler.
"If we thought the people didn't have an agenda and were being honest, we put them in the film, but if you see Kevin's film, it's crazy.
"He actually shows the address of Moore's house, which is totally irresponsible."
In Manufacturing Dissent, one friend describes Moore as a "megalomaniac with a touch of paranoia". On the flipside, it shows a young man campaigning to get Moore on his school's honour roll. Rather than include Moore, they took down the roll.
The filmmakers are ousted from several Moore appearances and continually fail to sit their subject down for a chat during the film.
In fairness to Moore, he has addressed his critics. But on his website, not to journalists keen to challenge his claims.
When Melnyk gets access to Moore, sheepishly door-stopping him at another public appearance, he brushes off questions about his private foundation owning shares in Halliburton - the contracting company once run by US Vice-President Dick Cheney - which it did.
He then gives her a demeaning hug, tells her he loves Canadians, and high-tails it out of there.
The film includes a telling interview from 1995 in which CBC journalist David Gilmour revealed a decidedly insecure side to Moore when he questioned the quality of his film Canadian Bacon.
Melnyk says she agrees with Moore's motives and appreciates the points he makes in his films, such as his latest Sicko, which lambasts the American public healthcare system.
But his slight embellishments, taking interview subjects out of context, or in some cases outright lies, bring his credibility crashing down, Melnyk says.
"I'm very disillusioned by Michael," she says in hindsight.
"What he portrays is a facade. Sure, he's a showman and there's elements you should expect of that. But I didn't expect him to behave the way he did.
"When we discovered some of things he did we just figured there's no reason to make things up and lie in his films."
In taking an even-handed approach, Manufacturing Dissent is probably the most damning of all the films that have tackled the subject of Moore and his films.
Former friend and union activist Jim Musselman confirms that before releasing Roger and Me, Moore actually met with Smith twice, one encounter lasting for 20 minutes.
He claims Moore asked him to bury the footage, as being dodged by Smith was the narrative thread to Roger and Me.
Melnyk calls Smith direct on the phone in her film. He is not so elusive after all.
Musselman also discredits another famous scene from Roger and Me, when Moore's microphone is cut off before he could ask a question at a General Motors shareholder meeting.
He says the entire scene was staged for the camera. Which Smith verifies.
AAP