Michael Moore – Bowling for Columbine
Filmed interviews can take many forms, from informal relaxed discussions to professional Q&A news interviews.
Michael Moore is a Documentary maker/ comedian, who makes a wide range of documentaries on numerous subjects often presenting a left wing view.
In his film ‘Bowling for Columbine’ he interviews Charlton Heston at his house, discussing guns and shootings. The camera’s focus on Heston, often leaving Moore out of shot. Moore steers the interview towards the violence of guns leaving Heston in a position to defend his ownership and promotions of guns. Heston is portrayed in the interview as gun loving, insensitive and un-knowlegable about the subject. The interview appeared to be bias and leading towards making Heston look like a ‘gun toting maniac’.
Moore also interviews Marilyn Manson in the same film, about his supposive negative effect on pop culture and violence. He interviews manson backstage at a gig, the setting is informal and feels more like a open discussion then a Q&A. The film was intersected with clips from protest and individuals against Marilyn Manson, this gave the perplexing view of sanity from the ‘anarchist’ and anger from the protesters
The 2 interviews have many differences, primarily the tone in way it was conducted. Manson’s interview was a laid back discussion whereas Heston’s was more confrontational with Moore asking for apologies. Moore’s film about about the shooting in columbine shows a multitude of opinions with a obvious swing towards the more left wing views.
I found this documentary interesting in subject but poor in execution, the mix of interviews and archive footage tried to emote the viewers but I felt it was lacking the substance of a impartial documentary.
LaserKing 