For those of you who’ve been living in a monastery for the last 10 years, Michael Moore is probably the most famous documentary filmmaker in American history. His body of work includes the feature-length documentaries Roger and Me, Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11. He also produced and starred in a TV series called The Awful Truth.
Basically, Moore is a political activist who uses moving pictures to get his point across. And he’s very, very good at what he does. So good that he’s won both an American Oscar and the Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival. He’s also the only documentary filmmaker ever invited to Cannes.
Sicko sounds like the title of a bad, B-list horror movie, and the truth is it really is a horror movie of sorts. It’s about the wealthiest, most technologically advanced and powerful empire in human history – an empire that Caesar or Genghis Khan would have been envious of – which, at the same time, is also the worst nation in the Western world when it comes to looking after its own people.
One of the points Moore makes in the film is that his government seems more interested in helping the big insurance and pharmaceutical companies – the ones that give millions in campaign finance to the Democrats and Republicans – than they are in helping the little guy. And boy, does he ever make that point well.
The movie opens with a man named Adam who is sitting at home with a needle and thread, sewing together a gash on his leg the width of his kneecap because he can’t afford health insurance. Adam and tens of millions of people like him in America have no access to basic medical care because wages minus cost of living doesn’t leave them enough money to get health care. And even when they can afford insurance, they often find that the insurance company or HMO attaches deductibles and additional expenses for care which are too high for the average American to keep up with.
One of the biggest problems Americans face today is being rejected by health insurance providers. The system is completely privatized and companies use a set of standards designed to create barriers which prevent many of the people who need health care the most from acquiring health insurance. The roadblocks have to be seen to be believed, and Moore manages to show the viewer the underbelly of for-profit health care in a way few others could.
He drives the point home by travelling across the globe to compare health care in the US to that of Canada, France and the UK. He uses his own government’s statistics to make the point and he also manages to demonstrate that socialized medicine doesn’t equate to doctors living in poverty, by any stretch of the imagination. He makes a very strong case for universal health care, probably the strongest case I’ve ever seen.
In fact, Moore makes the case so well that it may even sway people who are socially conservative. I’m not going to reveal how he accomplishes this, but in my opinion, he’s probably going to score big points in the last third of the film with people who consider themselves centrist and conservative. If you’re a fence sitter, go see this movie; it may just convince you that even if you’re opposed to socialism, socialized medicine may not be communism, after all. This is a very powerful film. It opens strong and keeps getting stronger all the way to the end. And man, what an ending! No spoilers from me. You’re going to have to see it.
At the time of writing this review, the US State Department had been persecuting Moore and considering prosecuting him for visiting Cuba without first getting special dispensation from the US government, the rationale being that because the US has an embargo against Cuba, Moore’s actions may have been criminal. But don’t take the State Department’s word for it. Watch the movie yourself and decide who the real criminals are.
One word of warning about this film: for those of you who are prone to cry like babies when you watch a sad movie, this film is going to be an emotional roller coaster. You will not get through it without crying. Hell, Moore made me cry, and I’m about as jaded as it gets when it comes to the horrors of US foreign and domestic policy. But in the end, it’s an important film and worth shedding a few tears over.
And you don’t have to take my word for it since my words and opinions aren’t worth diddly squat to Bush and Harper-loving Conservatives. According to Roger Friedman of Fox News, “Filmmaker Michael Moore’s brilliant and uplifting new documentary Sicko deals with the failings of the US healthcare system, both real and perceived. But this time around, the controversial documentarian seems to be letting the subject matter do the talking, and in the process shows a new maturity… ”
Anthony Kaufman of the Wall Street Journal says, “After the screening, several hard-nosed US critics and journalists admitted to crying during the film. The “straight-from-the-heart” approach of Sicko, as described in press notes, is less confrontational than what many audiences have come to expect from the director of Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11.
Many of you may have already seen Sicko; it’s been available for download on Usenet and P2P Bit Torrent networks since June 12. Moore says that he has no problems with people downloading and sharing his movie because he doesn’t agree with existing copyright laws. I admit I was one of those downloaders. But I’m going to pay the price of admission in theatres anyway, during the first weekend, to help Moore and the Weinstein Company keep on making these great and important films. So I’m asking all the P2P downloaders out there – you know who you are – to pay for a ticket to Sicko on its opening weekend by buying a ticket online.
Sicko is a great film that everyone should see. It’s both shocking and embarrassing, but in typical Michael Moore fashion, it’s also hilarious at times. Moore manages to retain his sense of humour and keep the viewer entertained, through what could have been two very depressing hours in the hands of another director. And unless you’re a diehard Reagan republican who thinks that rock‘n’roll is a communist plot, this film will give you food for thought. Guaranteed.

Hsing Lee is a part time political activist and a full time anti-monotheist. He’s also the producer and co-director of the hip-hop-cumentary Focced: US Foreign Policy in the Middle East. View his work at www.focced.com

A letter from Michael Moore: Sicko is Socko in Cannes!

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007

Friends:

Well, as you may have read by now, our premiere of Sicko at the Cannes Film Festival has been an overwhelming success. The 2,000 people inside the Lumière Theater were alternately in tears and laughing during the two-hour film, and when it was over they gave it a standing ovation that seemed to go on for nearly 15 minutes! Many came up to me and said – and critics seem to agree – that this is my best film yet. I don’t know about that, and it seems weird to compare any of these movies in the first place, but I do feel safe in saying that I am very, very happy with this film and I can’t wait to show it to you when it opens.
Cannes is a crazy place. There are film lovers here from nearly every country in the world. And then there are the people in “show business.” These dark forces have virtually ruined this art form (invented by the French and nurtured to brilliance by the country I call home). There are so many bad, awful films now and less and less people are going to the movies. Many who run Hollywood believe that the American people are too stupid to enjoy a film that respects their intelligence.
At the press screening for Sicko, the Wall Street Journal reported that hardened reporters and critics wept. Even those who have been harsh to me in the past, or who have not agreed with my politics, were moved. Aside from my stated desire that Sicko ignite a fire for free, universal health care, and a larger wish that we, as Americans, do a better job of treating each other with a true sense of solidarity and respect, I continue to hope that I can make a contribution to the art of cinema and give people a good reason to get out of the house for a few hours.
At my festival press conference, the only negative word came from the Canadians. Two critics didn’t like all the nice things I said about their health care system. Yes, Canadian health care has its flaws, but when I asked the two critics if they would exchange their health care cards for mine, they said “No!”
Of course they wouldn’t. Canadians live longer than we do and their infant mortality is not as high as ours. Their system is underfunded because their leaders have been trying to push for more American-style health care.
The rest of the week has been good and I am now on my way back to the US. The New York Post reported Sunday that the Bush administration, in addition to going after me for filming scenes in or near Cuba, may now go after the 9/11 rescue workers I took with me to get the medical care they were denied by our own government. I couldn’t make up irony like this if I wanted to, and I will do whatever is necessary to defend the human right of these true American heroes to receive the medical attention they deserve.
We’ve also received word that the HMO and pharmaceutical industries are gearing up to fight Sicko. We received so many great whistleblower letters while we were making the movie from employees of these companies. We’d like to hear from you again! Send us the internal memos and any other plans you run across at the company copying machine or internet server. It will help to stay ahead of whatever they are up to, and it will also give us a chance for a bit of fun at the industry’s expense.

Yours, Michael Moore

Sicko opened in theatres on June 29. Visit www.michaelmoore.com for Sicko updates. michael@michaelmoore.com