Documentary Review

Michael Moore's documentary Bowling for Columbine examines America's culture in relation to guns and the atmosphere that could be behind the Columbine shooting, and other acts of such gun violence. Moore uses no dramatic aspects only using interviews and other a-roll, b-roll, and archival footage. He uses few cinematic aspects, and when he does use them, they are not easily visible to the viewer, such as a couple scenes where he had to of shot multiple times, but was passed off as being taken once. The one aspect of film that Moore uses heavily is the literary aspect.

Even though none of his characters are fictional, he chooses either very interesting characters. Some are very emotionally poignant, such as two survivors of the Columbine shooting he takes on an adventure, some are made off to be ridiculous or antagonistic, such as the Charlton Heston, the NRA president, and James Nichols, the brother of one of the bombers connected to the Oklahoma City Bombing, but all are interesting.

Although Moore uses other points of view in all of his documentaries, including this one, his documentaries have some aspects of propaganda that impact the theme and overall message.

I would recommend this documentary, but I would recommend it with caution, making sure that the viewer is prepared to see more than Moore's view and try to see more of the issue, which is important, particularly lately.

Bowling for Columbine, 120 minutes, rated MA