Directed by Michael Moore
It was 20 years ago that an unemployed Michael Moore, son of an auto worker, decided to put together a group of friends to document the devastation General Motors was causing in his home town. They taught themselves how to make a film and sold whatever they owned to fund Roger and Me. Moore has continued to dedicate himself to exposing the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the lives of everyday Americans (and by default, the rest of the world) and this time the culprit is much bigger than General Motors. He parallels the crumbling Rome Empire with recent events affecting global finances and the lives of many ordinary people.
Moore started working on this production long before the American economy went into melt down. For Moore, who originally wanted to become a priest, this is a very personal story. With unemployment continuing to rise and a house foreclosure every 7.5 seconds, he talks to ordinary people who have had their American dreams shattered. What he finds is the all-too-familiar symptoms of a love affair gone astray: lies, abuse and betrayal. Moore makes us laugh and cry at the same time as he exposes the outrageous behaviour of corporate America, and he hopes people will leave the cinema armed to fight.
I fell in love with writer/producer/director Moore in 2002 when the biting satire in Bowling For Columbine opened my eyes to the causes of much of the world’s violence. When his guerrilla tactics bordered on the ridiculous in 2007’s Sicko, we had a bit of a falling out but I still appreciated the lengths he had gone to for those Americans who suffered because of America’s inadequate health system. All is forgiven as his latest must-see brilliant doco arms us with so much information and provides so much inspiration.
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