{"id":18768,"date":"2019-01-07T13:15:45","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T18:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=18768"},"modified":"2019-01-08T02:51:32","modified_gmt":"2019-01-08T07:51:32","slug":"br-fahrenheit-119-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=18768","title":{"rendered":"BR: Fahrenheit 11\/9 (2018)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Film<\/strong>: Very Good<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: Excellent<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: n\/a<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong> Briarcliff Entertainment \/ Warner Home Video<\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a0A<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0 December 18, 2017<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Documentary<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0Visceral documentary on the links between the Flint, Michigan, water crisis and corrupt businessmen in power.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0 (none)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his latest film, documentarian and provocateur Michael Moore attempts to examine how the United States ended up with Donald Trump as President by delving into the latest disastrous circumstances to hit his hometown of Flint, Michigan, the city whose workers in the auto industry were affected by GM\u2019s downsizing, and chronicled in the director\u2019s feature film debut, Roger & Me <\/strong>(1989).<\/p>\n

The new indignity is arguably more repugnant: Michigan state governor and former CEO of Gateway computers Rick Snyder ordering Flint\u2019s water supply to come not from Lake Huron, but the polluted Flint River, using technology from Snyder’s chronies and corporate buddies. The water contained high levels of chemicals which poisoned families whose taps drew from the supposedly treated river water, and corroded existing pipes which further raised the toxic stew of the water system with lead.<\/p>\n

Moore\u2019s hypothesis of Trump\u2019s presidential win postulates that political apathy among disgusted voters, an electorate deliberately divided along racial lines and marginalized by bigoted billionaires, plus blatant cronyism led to cities and states run by rich, greedy, white executives whose sole fidelity was towards corporate donors.<\/p>\n

Moore\u2019s personalized approach to narrative is well-known: he can be profane, he inserts himself into the narrative, and will often engage in a stunt that\u2019s deliberately absurd – in this case, the director walks to the state legislate with a pair of handcuffs to make a citizen\u2019s arrest of Snyder.<\/p>\n

His attempts at contrast & irony also veer into smart-ass pokes. In the ‘How the fuck did we get into this mess?’ prologue, Moore contrasts initially cheery footage of Hilary Clinton supporters & pop stars with grim Trump footage underscored with Jerry Goldsmith\u2019s \u201cAve Satani\u201d incantation from The Omen<\/strong> (1976). In the most outrageous sequence, his closing argument sets Trump\u2019s words to footage of Hitler addressing the Nazis at the pre-Nuremberg party congress, sourced from Leni Riefenstahl\u2019s Triumph of the Will<\/a><\/strong> (1935) – a marriage that fists disturbingly well.<\/p>\n

11\/9<\/strong> runs a bit long, and his music montages are pitched to sometimes darkly comedic, bathos-tinged levels, but not unlike Sicko<\/strong> (2007), there are stark, deeply affecting segments which demonstrate his strengths as a documentarian: cutting through political rhetoric, interviewing deeply affected, ordinary citizens, and choreographing their outrage into a cinematic political statement. As he states around the midpoint, \u2018No terrorist organization has ever figured out how to poison an entire city, and yet we let it happen ourselves.’<\/p>\n

Moore opines Trump’s win is due to the lack of good leadership, especially among the Democratic Party\u2019s old guard whom he argues have consistently sabotaged their own efforts to stay true to the country\u2019s liberal majority, and under Bill Clinton, pose as Republicans Lite. Barak Obama is especially (and deservedly) criticized for parachuting into Flint, playing theatrical games for the cameras, and failing to declare a national emergency and provide aide to citizens.<\/p>\n

For his finale, Moore draws on the powerful name reading of dead classmates by Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez to conclude his thesis, in which change can only happen if people take the initiative to tear down an apathetic, complacent establishment and expand their activism as representatives in city, state, and federal legislatures.<\/p>\n

Warner Bros.\u2019 Blu-ray is a bare bones release, but features a crisp transfer and 5.1 sound mix with aggressively mixed music cues.<\/p>\n

The early discovery of Flint\u2019s poisoned water by local citizens was also dramatized by Bruce Beresford in the Lifetime teleplay Flint<\/strong><\/a> (2017).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2019 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n