I think Errol Morris is fabulous. Fog of War is one of the recent films I tell everyone to see. It's moving and informative. And even though it is about Vietnam, Morris makes the generalizations to all modern wars clear. (On a side note, the Phillip Glass score is also amazing.)
I also like Michael Moore a lot, though I agree he has issues. He has a knack for reductio ad absurdum which I think strkes some people as flippancy. That said, he can be a very incisive social critic when he doesn't get caught up in the meta-narrative of "Michael Moore, filmmaker". Propaganda? Well, I don't think so, if only because the true test of propaganda is its transparency. Real propaganda is indistinguishable from other films, tv, news, ads, etc. except in hindsight, or viewed from outside. Moore's project is too overt in his work to be propaganda.
2 comments:
Errol is my hero. I've been a big fan of his documentarys since the first time I saw one.
Errol is a true documentary filmmaker, as opposed to Michael Moore, who is a propagandist, and a neighbor by the way. Excellent post!
I think Errol Morris is fabulous. Fog of War is one of the recent films I tell everyone to see. It's moving and informative. And even though it is about Vietnam, Morris makes the generalizations to all modern wars clear. (On a side note, the Phillip Glass score is also amazing.)
I also like Michael Moore a lot, though I agree he has issues. He has a knack for reductio ad absurdum which I think strkes some people as flippancy. That said, he can be a very incisive social critic when he doesn't get caught up in the meta-narrative of "Michael Moore, filmmaker". Propaganda? Well, I don't think so, if only because the true test of propaganda is its transparency. Real propaganda is indistinguishable from other films, tv, news, ads, etc. except in hindsight, or viewed from outside. Moore's project is too overt in his work to be propaganda.
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