Dog Eat Dog Films
You either love Michael Moore (if you’re a liberal) or hate Michael Moore (if you’re a conservative). The filmmaker has been turning out his own brand of provocative documentaries that speak to a specific audience (i.e. preaching to the choir) since he first burst on to the scene with Roger & Me, his indictment of the Detroit auto industry, focusing on GM CEO Roger Smith, way back in 1989 and long before a government bailout.
Moore has pushed many a button with his films Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko which tackled the subjects of America’s unhealthy fascination with guns, the September 11 terrorist attacks and who knew what before they happened, and America’s unhealthy health care system (pre-ACA). The films usually tackle serious subjects sometimes offset by a bit of wry humor but in the end, these are serious subjects and Moore wants you to think about them (except the people who should think about these things are not the ones who typically see a Michael Moore film).
Moore’s latest movie, Where To Invade Next, sounds like it might focus on the perception that the United States’ is somehow the designated world police, stepping into conflicts whether they are wanted or not. That, however, is not the case. The title is actually a bit cheeky as Moore’s tactic this time is looking at various concepts around the world — education, prison systems, work hours — to see how they work and then “invading” that country to take that concept back to America to create some sort of utopian society.
Moore’s travelogue of the world makes stops in Italy, where he talks with a couple who tell him about their eight weeks of paid vacation plus various holidays and maternity leave, and the owners of various businesses who say they love paying their workers for vacations and time off because in the end it makes them more productive. In France he looks at education, and in particular the quality of the school lunches which look like something you’d get at a local bistro than what we see kids served for lunch in the US (the French kids cringe at the idea of drinking a soda). His world tour also includes a look at a Norwegian prison systems that look more like suburban communities where the inmate have the keys to their cells and the recidivism rate is 60% lower than in the US.
Moore’s conceit here is that all of these things, as his subjects will gladly tell him, were American concepts that the Europeans borrowed and implemented while America let itself fall apart. Of course, they also point out that residents in these countries also pay more in taxes, but the benefits outweigh the costs (and, of course, all of these things would require the boogeyman of BIG GOVERNMENT, where conservatives would rather privatize and monetize everything from prisons to schools). But could such ideas work in the US of today? Moore sure thinks they can (which is why he’s a big Bernie Sanders supporter).
Where To Invade Next is entertaining and doesn’t hit you over the head with a message. The film lays out Moore’s point-of-view on the matters at hand, and in documentary filmmaking that could be seen as a problem. It’s Moore’s film, his viewpoint and you won’t really find anyone here who disagrees with him. Yes, the ideas are intriguing and very possibly could and should be applied in the US, but there’s no counterbalance to say why these things can’t work … unless you count the brief mentions of higher taxes which would certainly put the brakes on any project like these for at least half the country that doesn’t want to pay any taxes and doesn’t want a government at all (until their Medicaid and Social Security checks are late). Yes, these ideas are very attractive, and Moore’s presentation of them are very seductive, but there needs to be a balance to his message.
The recent Blu-ray release of Where To Invade Next features a very crisp 1080p HD image that presents the original digital production in all of its glory. Colors are vibrant and the film is brightly lit for the most part, and details are sharp, revealing everything from facial pores to textures in various materials. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless surround audio track is fairly robust for the genre with sometimes startling sound effects booming from the rear speakers to give you a real jolt. The dialog is crisp and clear, front and center, and is never obscured by the music or sound effects. Unfortunately, there are no special features or digital copy included. This is as bare bones as a video release gets, but the film itself is exemplary. Whether you agree with Moore’s viewpoint or not, this is one of his more enjoyable films that actually could speak to more people than just his base.
A Blu-ray copy of Where To Invade Next was provided to Hotchka by Starz Digital and Anchor Bay Entertainment for reviewing purposes.
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Here is a different reality about Italia from an Italian girl who’s living a different daily reality than this video
(From Valentina Corvi)
ciao! just to tell u that that moor’s video is completelly false. the majority of us strugles to arrive to the end of the month, and we are almost bankrupted as a country. the two companies where he went, have nothing to do with all the rest of the Italian companies. wages are around 1000/1200 euros per month, the 100% goes away for monthly expenses (house rent, bills, food, kids needs, medicines..). yes, sure, holidays here are payed, but normal people use that money to survive not to go on holiday. that couple?? easy when u are in two people working and no kids. in italy is much more common that only one of the two has a job (there are no jobs here) and 3 kids at home.
we are devastated by the taxes of our corrupted politicians (the only really rich in my country). for i stance, i have a house in the center of rome, was my granny house. i have to give every year 6500 euros to the gov only cause i own that house, only cause is mine, every year i have to pay 6500 euros, over a hoise where already my granmother payd lot of taxes when she bought it. than i have to pay the tari, other 600 euros, to the district of rome, so evry year just cause i posses my family house, i’ve to give 7000 euros to the gov.
and i’m lucky, cause i can afford, i belong to the minority of the itslians. if i was a normal itslian, i would have been forced to sell my family house. half of the pay an employe gets here, goes to the government in first place, with what remains, u have to survive.
another exaple, gino strada, he is a surgeon who created a medical charity organization called emergency. emergency used to work only in the third world or in war places as siria, afganistan ecc. they provide free medical assitence. well, now they had to open emergency centers also in italy, cause the 20% of the italians cannot afford paying for healthcare, though here is not like in the us and medical healsh should be free. but the is a tax on it called “ticket”, u dont pay the medical care but y pay the tax on it. and people are so poor now that they cannot afford paying the ticket. so gino strada was forced to help suffering people also in his country.
michael moor wanted to uplight what’s wrong in the us. but he should have gone in northen europe, not in italy. people want to come in the usa, cause at least there u can find a job. maybe maternity and holidays are not payd, but still u can find a job. here people do not have a job, nevertheless they have to pay a lot of taxes over whatever. we have also a tax over taxes, it sounds funny, but is the dramatic italian reality.
never so a more unfair video as the moor’s one.
the only thing here is better than usa, the reason why our life span is wider, is that is true that we don’t eat shit. our diet, the mediterrain diet, is very healthy since we eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, very little sugar, very little fats, and we don’t like processed food. but obama is pishing for the ttip, he want europe to be invaded with the american shit, meat full of antibiotics and hormons, ogm, veg filled up with chemicals. as soon as the american edible crap will invade us, will die obese, with diabetis and as soon as u do there!
ciao!
Thank you for the input. It’s always good to have a different perspective on things.