Michael Moore’s plan to follow up “Bowling For Columbine” with an even more radical (and probably even more false) polemic against America is in trouble, as Disney –the parent company of the film’s distributor Miramax- is threatening to “suppress” (NYT’s word) the release of Moore’s latest opus.
The film, called “Fahrenheit 911,” will- if Moore’s previous work is any indication- use the September 11 attacks as a jumping off point for a multifaceted and nearly incoherent series of rants, interspersed with a staged scene or two, and probably a third-act ambush on John Ashcroft’s house.
Likely fearing a “The Reagans”-type situation, Disney is threatening to prevent Miramax from releasing the film. Expect boss Harvey Weinstein to protest, although it’s worth noting that Miramax has a nearly unblemished history of always backing down in this sort of situation (see: “Dogma”).
I find myself a bit torn about this whole thing: on the one hand I hate seeing a corporation suppress a film for fear of a political backlash. But on the other, the two major figures on the other side are Michael Moore and Harvey Weinstein- who are, if you ask me, the two most loathsome individuals in the entire motion picture industry. So I'm not exactly ready to rush to their defense.
That’s all right though- if Weinstein and Moore are on the same side long enough, you just know they’ll inevitably have a falling out, and eventually (hopefully) one of them will eat the other.
Posted by Stephen Silver at May 5, 2004 10:39 PMNow the rumor is that Mirmax told Moore that they wouldn't do it from the begining...and that this may be a publicity stunt or something. I dunno. No matter what, I'm sure there'll be others who want to distribute it.
Posted by: jaws at May 6, 2004 12:07 AMJaws is right - Disney or no Disney, that film will see the light of day.
And I will skip it, as I have nearly every other film by Moore. I'm still thinking about suing over Canadian Bacon.
Posted by: Emily at May 6, 2004 12:59 PMI agree with Jaws and Emily - movies in this situation always manage to find another distributor. From the title, I'm guessing Moore's general thesis is that they're been an increase in censorship in the US since 9/11. This is true and deserves to be documented on film, but Michael Moore isn't the right person to do it.
Posted by: Joe at May 6, 2004 03:57 PMThere was but one good scene in Canadian Bacon. Where Dan Ackroyd playing the mountie insists that the anti-Canadian graffitti be repeated in French, for the benefit of the Quebecqois.
Posted by: Bill McCabe at May 6, 2004 04:15 PMBill - I also liked "We have ways of making you pronounce the letter 'O'."
Posted by: Emily at May 7, 2004 07:50 PM