Bowling For Columbine (2002)

Starring: Michael Moore
Director: Michael Moore

Rating: R

Studio: United Artists

Review Posted: 10.14.02

Spoilers: Minor

Rating: 4/4

By Angelo.

On the official site for the Cannes Film Festival, there is a film submission stipulation that bars documentaries from being accepted. That is until earlier this year, when the committee made exception to Michael Moore’s film, and for good reason too. [It later won the festival’s 55th Anniversary Prize]. “Bowling for Columbine” is a powerful and poignant work, teem with wit, humor and emotion, that attempts to answer why America is a disproportionately violent society when compared to the rest of the world. It’s a documentary of grave importance.

Needless to say, there is no film in the world that can answer such a complicated issue in any reasonable length of time, but “Bowling for Columbine” will undoubtedly spark debates and make us think what factors should be looked at. It’s a starting point. It unabashedly tackles the matter, for Moore has turned the camera on a loaded gun.

Using the infamous 1999 Columbine High School shootings as the focal point, Moore then introduces the various instigators for American gun-related violence. Is it the music that kids listen to the one that corrupts their minds? Is American cinema and television’s obsession with violence to blame? Is it the “ethnical mixing” that triggers the higher crime rate? Is it the loose gun-control regulations that make firearms too readily available? Is it the economic abyss of poverty responsible? Or is it just simply that Americans are naturally more violent, as proven by our history?

“Bowling for Columbine” barely scratches the surface of American violence, but what Moore has put within these two hours is simply amazing. Although the film has a liberal disposition, what Moore has crafted is not preachy by any means. There are numerous interviews from notable figures who share their opinions on the matter, such as Gothic rocker Marilyn Manson, National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston, and Oklahoma bombing terrorist suspect James Nichols. Then there are the interviews with regular Americans that really put things in perspective, such as Columbine survivors, Michigan militia members, and a school principal at Buell Elementary School, where a six-year old boy shot a six-year old girl.

The film could not have been released more appropriately. With an imminent Iraqi invasion at hand and heightened public fear due to 9/11, “Bowling for Columbine” seeks what prompts our violence. It is truly informative, drowning us in ideas and shedding light to an ever-pressing matter. Moore also uses humor to lighten up the mood a bit, with references to Chris Rock and South Park, and these are just as genuine as the rest of the film. Then there are the emotionally charged scenes that evoked such fear and anger in me, which no fictional film has done this year.

A definite fodder for heated political debates, “Bowling for Columbine” is engaging, extensive, disturbing and an admirable achievement that impacts our hearts and thoughts. This should be required viewing for every American with an open-mind.

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