This is the last article you can read this month
You can read more article this month
You can read more articles this month
Sorry your limit is up for this month
Reset on:
Please help support the Morning Star by subscribing here
Fahrenheit 11/9 (15)
Directed by Michael Moore
DURING an appearance on The Roseanne Show alongside Michael Moore in 1998, Donald Trump praised the film-maker's debut documentary and told the director how he hoped he would never make a film about himself.
Fast-forward two decades. Trump is now US president and Moore has turned the full force of his cinematic prowess on this controversial figure, exploring the two most burning questions — how the fuck did we get here and how the fuck do we get out?
His film opens with a heartbreaking montage of the run-up to the US presidential elections, showing voters full of an unwavering belief that Hillary Clinton was going to make history by becoming the country's first woman president.
It goes on to show how their optimism and jubilance were slowly crushed over the course of election night under the horrifying realisation and the shock and awe that Trump was the victor. Equally, the look of horror on Trump and his team's faces at his surprise victory speaks volumes.
An angry Moore, on fighting form, then analyses Trump the man and what led to his rise to power. He points the finger at past presidencies and staunchly criticises the Democratic Party as well as the Obama administration for its apathy and not taking seriously growing disillusionment in the US with political leaders and the system which led them to sticking it to “the man” — or woman, in this case.
Moore keeps his trademark comic antics to a minimum here but shocks by drawing alarming comparisons between Trump's ascension to office and that of Hitler.
He re-examines Flint's water crisis — the lead-poisoning of the town's water supply — which he describes as resulting in ethnic cleansing, the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and the West Virginia teachers' strike.
As well as showing how unscrupulous and rotten the administration and establishment are, he also demonstrates the rise of ordinary people in becoming more politically engaged and their power.
Moore's burning fury permeates the film as he paints a stark and frightening picture of US life under Trump.
With the midterm elections looming ever closer, this is Moore's rallying political call to action to put the brakes on Trump and his administration.
