Bowling for Columbine
2002 · Directed by Michael Moore
Original language: English
- documentary
- drama
The story
This is not a film about gun control. It is a film about the fearful heart and soul of the United States, and the 280 million Americans lucky enough to have the right to a constitutionally protected Uzi. From a look at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of Oscar-winning NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who makes homemade napalm with The Anarchist's Cookbook to the murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old. Bowling for Columbine is a journey through the US, through our past, hoping to discover why our pursuit of happiness is so riddled with violence.
What it’s like
Grainy handheld footage and archival news clips cut together in a restless, wry collage, with Michael Moore often appearing on screen in his rumpled, self-amused way, walking into banks, suburban cul-de-sacs and the Canadian prairie with a camera that never quite stays still. The palette is flat and sun-bleached in the American scenes, with fluorescent-lit offices and cluttered living rooms giving way to bright, almost cheerful Canadian streets. The score is a jaunty, playful mix of pop and bouncy strings that undercuts the subject matter, while the silences around interviews feel uncomfortable on purpose. Its vibe is sardonic and angry, with a mordant humor that keeps circling back to fear. Pacing is brisk and digressive, with each sequence doubling back to a new question. The intensity is real: it includes footage of the Columbine shooting, mentions of the Oklahoma City bombing, and a child's killing, shown through news material and interviews, so the disturbing content is frequent though rarely gory. It suits people who want a sharp, provocative and argumentative watch, not a gentle one.
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