''Fahrenheit 9/11'' is a 2004 American
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
directed, written by, and starring filmmaker, director,
political commentator and activist
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism.
Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...
. The film takes a
liberal, critical look at the
presidency
A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...
of
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, the war in Iraq, and its coverage in the media. In the film, Moore contends that American corporate media were "cheerleaders" for the
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
, and did not provide an accurate or objective analysis of the
rationale for the war and the resulting
casualties there.
The title of the film alludes to
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
's 1953 novel ''
Fahrenheit 451
''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. Often regarded as one of his best works, ''Fahrenheit 451'' presents an American society where books have been personified and outlawed and "firemen" burn any that ar ...
'', a
dystopia
A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...
n view of the future United States, drawing an analogy between the
autoignition temperature
The autoignition temperature or kindling point of a substance is the lowest temperature in which it spontaneously ignites in a normal atmosphere without an external source of ignition, such as a flame or spark. This temperature is required to su ...
of paper and the date of the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
; one of the film's
taglines was "The Temperature at Which Freedom Burns".
The film debuted at the
2004 Cannes Film Festival
The 57th Cannes Film Festival started on 12 and ran until 23 May 2004 in film, 2004. The Palme d'Or went to the United States, American film ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' by Michael Moore.
The festival opened with ''Bad Education (2004 film), La mala educa ...
, where it was awarded the
Palme d'Or,
the festival's highest award. It received generally positive reviews from critics, but it also generated
intense controversy, particularly including disputes over its accuracy. The film became the highest-grossing documentary of all time (later surpassed by ''
Michael Jackson's This Is It
''Michael Jackson's This Is It'' is a 2009 American documentary–concert film about Michael Jackson's rehearsals and preparation for This Is It (concert residency), the concert series of the same name scheduled to start on July 13, 2009, at ...
''), grossing over $220 million. A follow-up, titled ''
Fahrenheit 11/9
''Fahrenheit 11/9'' is a 2018 American documentary by filmmaker Michael Moore about the 2016 United States presidential election and presidency of Donald Trump up to the time of the film's release. The film is a follow-up to Moore's '' Fahren ...
'', about the presidency of
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, was released in September 2018.
Synopsis
The documentary begins by suggesting that friends and political allies of
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
at
Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
tilted the
election of 2000 by prematurely declaring Bush the winner. It then suggests that the handling of the
voting controversy in Florida constituted
election fraud
Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...
.
The documentary then segues into the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
of 2001. Moore says Bush was informed of the first plane hitting the
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
on his way to an
elementary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. Bush is then shown sitting in an
Emma E. Booker Elementary School classroom with children. When told that
a second plane has crashed into the World Trade Center and that the nation is "under attack", Bush allows the students to finish their book reading, and Moore notes that he continued reading
The Pet Goat
"The Pet Goat" (often erroneously called "My Pet Goat") is a grade-school level reading exercise composed by American educationalist Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann. It achieved notoriety for being read by US President George W. Bush with a class of ...
for nearly seven minutes.
Moore then discusses the complex relationships between the
U.S. government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
and the
Bush family
The Bush family is an American dynastic family that is prominent in the fields of American politics, news, sports, entertainment, and business. They were the first family of the United States from 1989 to 1993 and again from 2001 to 2009, and w ...
; and between the
bin Laden family, the
Saudi Arabian government
The politics of Saudi Arabia takes place in the context of a unitary absolute monarchy along Islamic lines, where the King is both the head of state and government. Decisions are, to a large extent, made on the basis of consultation among the Ki ...
, and the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
, which span over three decades. Moore then states that the United States government evacuated 24 members of the bin Laden family on a secret flight shortly after the attacks, without subjecting them to any form of interrogation.
Moore moves on to examine George W. Bush's
Texas Air National Guard
The Texas Air National Guard (TX ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Texas, United States of America. It is, along with the Texas Army National Guard, an element of the Texas National Guard. No element of the Texas Air National Guard is und ...
service record. Moore contends that Bush's
dry-hole oil well attempts were partially funded by the Saudis and by the bin Laden family through the intermediary of
James R. Bath, whose name is shown to have been blacked out from Bush's records. Moore alleges that these
conflicts of interest suggest that the Bush administration does not serve the interests of Americans. The movie continues by suggesting ulterior motives for the
War in Afghanistan, including a
natural gas pipeline through
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
to the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
.
Moore alleges that the Bush administration induced a climate of fear among the American population through the
mass media
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit information ...
. Moore then describes purported
anti-terror
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...
efforts, including government infiltration of
pacifist
Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
groups and other events, and the signing of the
USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of Congress, Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President of the United States, President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniti ...
.
The documentary then turns to the subject of the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
, comparing the lives of the Iraqis before and after the invasion. The citizens of Iraq are portrayed as living relatively happy lives prior to the country's invasion by the
U.S. Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
. The film also takes pains to demonstrate war cheerleading in the U.S. media and general bias of journalists, with quotes from news organizations and
embedded journalists. Moore suggests that atrocities will occur in Iraq and shows footage depicting
U.S. abuse of prisoners.
Later in the film, Lila Lipscomb appears with her family after hearing of the death of her son, Sgt. Michael Pedersen, who was killed on April 2, 2003, in
Karbala
Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorat ...
. Anguished and tearful, she begins to question the purpose of the war.
Tying together several themes and points, Moore compliments those serving in the U.S. military. He claims that the working class of America are always the first to join the Army, so that the people better off do not have to join. He states that those valuable troops should not be sent to risk their lives unless it is necessary to defend America. The credits roll while
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
's "
Rockin' in the Free World" plays. (Moore had originally intended to use
the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
's "
Won't Get Fooled Again" but was denied permission by
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s.
Townsh ...
).
Moore dedicated the film to his friend who was killed in the World Trade Center attacks and to those servicemen and women from
Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
that have been killed in Iraq: "Michael Pedersen, Brett Petriken and all the soldiers from the Flint area who have died in the Iraq War ... Bill Weems and the 2973 who died on 9/11/01 ... and the countless thousands who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq as a result of our actions."
Production
Originally planned to be financed by
Mel Gibson
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocaly ...
's
Icon Productions
Icon Productions is a production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey, which, unlike most other independent production companies, funds most of its development and production cos ...
(which planned to give Michael Moore eight figures in upfront cash and potential backend),
''Fahrenheit 9/11'' was later picked up by
Miramax Films
Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey Weinstein, Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California.
It was ...
and
Wild Bunch in May 2003 after Icon Productions had abruptly dropped the financing deal it made. Miramax had earlier distributed another film for Moore, ''
The Big One'', in 1997.
At that time,
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
was the parent company of Miramax. According to the book ''
DisneyWar'', Disney executives did not know that Miramax agreed to finance the film until they saw a posting on the ''
Drudge Report
The Drudge Report (stylized as DRUDGE REPORT) is a U.S.-based news aggregation website founded by Matt Drudge, and run with the help of Charles Hurt and Daniel Halper. The site was generally regarded as a conservative publication, though its o ...
''.
Michael Eisner
Michael Dammann Eisner (born March 7, 1942) is an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company from September 1984 to September 2005. Prior to Disney, Eisner was president of rival film st ...
(the CEO of Disney at that time) called
Harvey Weinstein (co-chairman of Miramax at that time) and ordered him to drop the film. In addition, Disney sent two letters to Weinstein demanding Miramax drop the film. Weinstein felt Disney had no right to block the releasing of ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' since the film's $6 million budget was well below the level at which Miramax needed to seek Disney's approval, and it would not be rated
NC-17.
[Stewart, p.429-430] But Weinstein was in contract negotiations with Disney, so he offered a compromise that he would drop the film if Disney did not like it.
Disney responded by having
Peter Murphy send Weinstein a letter stating that the film's $6 million budget was only a bridge financing and Miramax would sell off its interest in the movie to get those $6 million back; according to the same letter, Miramax was also expected to publicly state that it would not release the film.
After ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' was nearly finished, Miramax held several preview screenings; they were "testing through the roof".
[Stewart, p.519-520] Weinstein informed Eisner that ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' was finished, and Eisner was surprised by the fact that Miramax had continued making the film.
Weinstein asked several Disney executives (including Eisner) to watch the film, but all declined; Disney stated again that Miramax would not release the film, and Disney also accused Weinstein of hiding ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' by keeping it off production reports.
Disney sent production vice President Brad Epstein to watch ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' on April 24, 2004.
According to Weinstein, Epstein said he liked the film; but according to the report Epstein sent to the Walt Disney Company board of directors, Epstein clearly criticized it.
Eisner told Weinstein that Disney's board decided not to allow Miramax to release the film.
Weinstein was furious and he asked
George J. Mitchell
George John Mitchell Jr. (born August 20, 1933) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A leading member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from Maine from 1980 to 1995, and as Senate Majority Leader from 198 ...
(chairman of Disney at that time) to see the film, but Mitchell declined.
Weinstein asked lawyer
David Boies to help find a solution;
the Weinsteins and Moore had also hired
Chris Lehane
Christopher Stephen Lehane (born June 2, 1967) is an American political consultant who has served as a lawyer, spokesperson and expert in opposition research for the Clinton White House, Democratic candidates for public office and various busi ...
to consult on the film's release strategies. Lehane suggested to reveal Disney's decision to ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported about Disney's decision on May 5, 2004. Disney stated that both Moore's agent (
Ari Emanuel) and Miramax were advised in May 2003 that Miramax would not be permitted to distribute the film. Disney representatives said Disney had the right to veto any Miramax film if it appeared that its distribution would be counterproductive to the interests of the company; indeed, Disney had blocked Miramax from releasing two films before: ''
Kids
Kid, Kids, KIDS, and K.I.D.S. may refer to:
Common meanings
* Colloquial term for a child or other young person
** Also for a parent's offspring regardless of age
* Engage in joking
* Young goats
* The goat meat of young goats
* Kidskin, lea ...
'' and ''
Dogma
Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...
''.
Because of these difficulties, distribution was first secured in numerous countries outside the U.S. On May 28, 2004, after more than a week of talks, Disney announced that Miramax film studio founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein had personally acquired the rights to the documentary after Disney declined to distribute it. The Weinsteins agreed to repay Disney for all costs to that point, estimated at around $6 million. They also agreed to be responsible for all costs to finish the film and all marketing costs not paid by any third-party film distributors. A settlement between the Weinsteins and Disney was also reached so that 60% of the film's profit would be donated to
charity.
The Weinsteins established Fellowship Adventure Group to handle the distribution of this film. Fellowship Adventure Group joined forces with
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered in ...
(which had released two other Miramax-financed films ''
O'' and ''
Dogma
Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...
'') and
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its S ...
to release it in the United States theatrically. (Fellowship Adventure Group also handled the film's U.S. home video distribution through
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.
Background
SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...
). Moore stated that he was "grateful to them now that everyone who wants to see it will now have the chance to do so.
After being informed that the film had been given an
R rating by the
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...
, Moore appealed the decision, hoping to obtain a
PG-13 rating instead. Moore's lawyer, former
Governor of New York
The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...
,
Mario Cuomo, was not allowed to attend the hearing. The appeal was denied on June 22, 2004, and Cuomo contended that it was because he had been banned from the hearing. Some theaters chose to defy the MPAA and allow unchaperoned teenagers to attend screenings.
Release
The film was released theatrically by The Fellowship Adventure Group through a distribution arrangement with
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered in ...
. On its opening weekend of June 25–27, 2004, the film generated box-office revenues of $23.9 million in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, making it the weekend's top-grossing film. Its opening weekend earned more than the entire U.S. theatrical run of any other feature-length documentary (including Moore's previous film, ''
Bowling for Columbine''). The film was released in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
on July 2, 2004 and in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
on July 7, 2004.
Moore credited part of the theatrical success to the efforts of conservative groups to pressure theaters not to run the film, conjecturing that these efforts backfired by creating publicity. There were also efforts by
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
groups such as
MoveOn.org
MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest grassroot ...
(who helped promote the film) to encourage attendance in order to defy their political opponents' contrary efforts.
''Fahrenheit 9/11'' was screened in a number of
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
ern countries, including the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, but was immediately banned in
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
. "We have a law that prohibits insulting friendly nations", said Abdul-Aziz Bou Dastour of the Kuwaiti Information Ministry. The film was not shown in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
as public movie theaters were not permitted from 1983 until 2017. The Saudi ruling elite subsequently launched an advertising campaign spanning nineteen US cities to counter criticism partly raised in the film.
Democratic members of the
Coalition Provisional Authority
)
, capital = Baghdad
, largest_city = capital
, common_languages = ArabicKurdishEnglish (''de facto'')
, government_type = Transitional government
, legislature = Iraqi Governing Council
, title_leader = Administrator
, leader1 = Jay ...
in
U.S.-occupied Iraq had the film screened at the
Republican Palace
The Republican Palace ( ar, القصر الجمهوري, ') is a palace in Baghdad, Iraq, constructed on the orders of King Faisal II. It was Saddam Hussein's preferred place to meet visiting heads of state. The United States spared the palace ...
in
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
.
In
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
,
bootlegged versions of the film were shown in 120 theaters, followed by a prime-time
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
broadcast by the leading state-run network. It had been widely reported that this might affect its
Oscar eligibility, since the film was broadcast on television less than nine months after its theatrical release. However, soon after that story had been published, the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...
issued a statement denying this, saying, "If it was pirated or stolen or unauthorized we would not blame the producer or distributor for that". In addition, Wild Bunch, the film's overseas distributor for Cuba, issued a statement denying a television deal had been struck with Cuban Television. The issue became moot, however, when Moore decided to forgo Oscar eligibility in favor of a pay-per-view televising of the film on November 1, 2004.
Critical reception
The film was received positively by critics. Review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reports an approval rating of 82% based on 237 reviews, with an average rating of 7.33/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "Extremely one-sided in its indictment of the Bush administration, but worth watching for the humor and the debates it'll stir."
It also received a score of 67 (generally favorable) on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, based on 43 reviews.
Film critic
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
, who gave the documentary three and a half stars out of four, said that the film "is less an exposé of George W. Bush than a dramatization of what Moore sees as a failed and dangerous presidency", and added: "Moore brings a fresh impact to familiar material by the way he marshals his images".
Joe Morgenstern of ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' described the film as "rambling, troubling and sometimes rousing", and wrote: "At its best, "Fahrenheit 9/11" is an impressionist burlesque of contemporary American politics that culminates in a somber lament for lives lost in Iraq. But the good stuff—and there's some extremely good stuff—keeps getting tainted by Mr. Moore's poison-camera penchant for drawing dark inferences from dubious evidence."
''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Michael Moore's anti-Bush polemic gave millions of frustrated liberals exactly what they needed to hear in 2004—and infuriated just about everyone else. Along the way, it became the highest-grossing documentary of all time."
Commercial performance
Grossing over $222 million total worldwide, the film is the highest grossing documentary of all time, according to
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon.
History
Brandon Gray began ...
.
The film had a general release in the United States and Canada on June 23, 2004. It has since been released in 42 more countries. On
Al-Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
in August 2012, Moore claimed the movie "grossed about half a billion dollars" worldwide. It was the highest-grossing film released by
Lionsgate until it was surpassed by ''
The Hunger Games'' in 2012.
Home media
''Fahrenheit 9/11'' was released to
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
and
VHS on October 5, 2004, an unusually short turnaround time after theatrical release. In the first days of the release, the film broke records for the highest-selling documentary ever. About two million copies were sold on the first day, most of which (1.4 million) were sold as rentals.
A companion book, ''The Official Fahrenheit 9/11 Reader'', was released at the same time. It contains the complete screenplay, documentation of Moore's sources, audience e-mails about the film, film reviews, and articles.
Initial television presentations
The two-hour film was planned to be shown as part of the three-hour "The Michael Moore Pre-Election Special" on
iN DEMAND, but iN DEMAND backed out in mid-October. Moore later arranged for simultaneous broadcasts on November 1, 2004 at 8:00 p.m. (EST) on
Dish Network
DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...
,
TVN TVN may refer to:
* TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel
* Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster
* TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi
* TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...
, and the Cinema Now website and material prepared for "The Michael Moore Pre-Election Special" was incorporated into "Fahrenheit 9/11: A Movement in Time", which aired that same week on The Independent Film Channel.
The movie was also shown on basic cable television in Germany and Austria on November 1, 2004 and November 2, 2004. In the UK, the film was shown on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
on January 27, 2005. In Hungary, it was shown on
RTL Klub
RTL (formerly: RTL Klub) is a Hungarian free-to-air television channel owned by RTL Group. The channel began broadcasting three days after its main rival TV2, one of Hungary's first commercial TV channels.
History
Since its start, RTL Klub ...
, a commercial channel, on September 10, 2005, on
m1, one of the national channels, on August 13, 2006, on
m2, the other national channel, on September 1, 2006. In Denmark, it was shown on
Danmarks Radio (normally referred to as just DR), which is Denmark's national broadcasting corporation, on April 11, 2006. In Norway, it was shown on
NRK
NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...
, the national broadcasting corporation, on August 27, 2006. The film was screened in New Zealand on September 9, 2006 on
TV ONE, a channel of
TVNZ
, type = Crown entity
, industry = Broadcast television
, num_locations = New Zealand
, location = Auckland, New Zealand
, area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...
. The next day, the Dutch network
Nederland 3
NPO 3 (''NPO drie'', formerly Nederland 3 until 2014) is the third and youngest of the terrestrial television channels operated by the Dutch public-broadcasting organization NPO in the Netherlands. It carries programmes provided by member-based ...
aired the film. In Belgium, it was shown on
Kanaal 2 on October 12, 2006. In Brazil, it aired on October 10, 2008 on
TV Cultura, the
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
public broadcasting network.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' was released on October 5, 2004 by
Rhino Entertainment.
Track listing
Awards
Palme d'Or
In April 2004, the film was selected to compete for the
Palme d'Or at the
57th Cannes Film Festival. After its first showing in
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...
in May 2004, the film received a 15–20 minute standing ovation; Harvey Weinstein, whose Miramax Films funded the film, said, "It was the longest standing ovation I've seen in over 25 years".
On May 22, 2004, the film was awarded the Palme d'Or.
It was the first documentary to win that award since Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Jacques Cousteau's and Louis Malle's ''The Silent World'' in 1956. Just as his much publicized
Oscar acceptance speech, Moore's speech in Cannes included some political statements:
I have a sneaking suspicion that what you have done here and the response from everyone at the festival, you will assure that the Americans, American people will see this film. I can't thank you enough for that. You've put a huge light on this and many people want the truth and many want to put it in the closet, just walk away. There was a great Republican Party (United States), Republican president who once said, if you just give the people the truth, the Republicans, the Americans will be saved. […] I dedicate this Palme d'Or to my daughter, to the children of Americans and to Iraq and to all those in the world who suffer from our actions.
Some Conservatism in the United States, conservatives in the United States, such as Jon Alvarez of FireHollywood, commented that such an award could be expected Anti-French sentiment in the United States, from the French. Moore had remarked only days earlier that: "I fully expect the Fox News Channel and other right-wing media to portray this as an award from the French. […] There was only one French citizen on the jury. Four out of nine were American. […] This is not a French award, it was given by an international jury dominated by Americans." The jury was made up of four North Americans (one of them born in Haiti), four Europeans, and one Asian.
He also responded to suggestions that the award was political: "Quentin Tarantino, Quentin [Tarantino] whispered in my ear, 'We want you to know that it was not the politics of your film that won you this award. We are not here to give a political award. Some of us have no politics. We awarded the art of cinema, that is what won you this award and we wanted you to know that as a fellow filmmaker.'" In comments to the prize-winning jury in 2005, Cannes director Gilles Jacob said that panels should make their decision based on filmmaking rather than politics. He expressed his opinion that though Moore's talent was not in doubt, "it was a question of a satirical tract that was awarded a prize more for political than cinematographic reasons, no matter what the jury said". Interviewed about the decision four years later, Tarantino responded: "As time has gone on, I have put that decision under a microscope and I still think we were right. That was a movie of the moment – ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' may not play the same way now as it did then, but back then it deserved everything it got."
People's Choice Award
The film won additional awards after its release, such as the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture, an unprecedented honor for a documentary.
Golden Raspberry Awards
Nine months after ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' received the Palme d'Or, George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and Condoleezza Rice won the Worst Actor, Worst Supporting Actor, and Worst Screen Couple (Bush/Rice) at the 25th Golden Raspberry Awards ("Razzies") because of their mishandling of the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq War. Britney Spears, who appeared in the film in a pre-recorded interview where she expressed her support for Bush, won the Golden Raspberry for Worst Supporting Actress.
Controversies
The film generated criticism and controversy after its release shortly before the 2004 United States presidential election. British-American journalist and literary critic Christopher Hitchens contended that ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' contains distortions and untruths.
[
] This drew several rebuttals, including an eFilmCritic article and a Columbus Free Press editorial. Former Democratic mayor of New York City Ed Koch, who had endorsed President Bush for re-election, called the film propaganda.
Moore's expectations for the 2004 presidential election
The film was released in June 2004, less than five months before the 2004 United States presidential election, 2004 presidential election. Michael Moore, while not endorsing presidential candidate John Kerry, stated in interviews that he hoped "to see Mr. Bush removed from the White House".
He also said that he hoped his film would influence the election: "This may be the first time a film has this kind of impact".
[ However, some political analysts did not expect it to have a significant effect on the election. One Republican strategist stated that Moore "communicates to that American Left, far-left sliver that would never vote for Bush", and Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College, suspected that the main effect of the film would be to "turn Bush-haters into bigger Bush-haters".][ Regardless of whether the film would change the minds of many voters, Moore stated his intention to use it as an organizing tool, and hoped that it would energize those who wanted to see Bush defeated in 2004, increasing Voter turnout in United States presidential elections, voter turnout.] Notwithstanding the film's influence and commercial success, George W. Bush was re-elected in 2004.
Because Moore had opted to have it played on television prior to the 2004 election, the film was ruled ineligible to compete for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Feature in the 77th Academy Awards, Academy Awards.
Lawsuit
In February 2011, Moore sued producers Bob Weinstein, Bob and Harvey Weinstein for US$2.7 million in unpaid profits from the film, stating that they used "Hollywood accounting tricks" to avoid paying him the money. They responded that Moore had received US$20 million for the film and that "his claims are hogwash". Eventually, Bob and Harvey Weinstein reached a settlement with Moore for undisclosed amounts and terms.
Subsequent film
On September 6, 2018, Moore released a film entitled ''Fahrenheit 11/9
''Fahrenheit 11/9'' is a 2018 American documentary by filmmaker Michael Moore about the 2016 United States presidential election and presidency of Donald Trump up to the time of the film's release. The film is a follow-up to Moore's '' Fahren ...
'' about the 2016 United States presidential election and the subsequent presidency of Donald Trump. The title is reference to the original film, with the date 9/11 being reversed to 11/9.
References
Further reading
* On the financing of the film.
External links
Notes and sources at Moore's website
*
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahrenheit 9 11
2004 documentary films
2004 films
Anti-war films
American documentary films
American independent films
Documentary films about American politics
Censored films
Documentary films about the September 11 attacks
2000 United States presidential election in Florida
Films about the 2000 United States presidential election
Films about the media
Films about George W. Bush
Films directed by Michael Moore
Films produced by Harvey Weinstein
Films shot in Iraq
Palme d'Or winners
2004 United States presidential election in popular culture
2004 independent films
Golden Raspberry Award winning films
Cultural depictions of George W. Bush
Lionsgate films
IFC Films films
Documentary films about the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Documentary films about the Iraq War
Documentary films about American politicians
Documentary films about politicians
Documentary films about elections in the United States
Documentary films about the media
Film controversies
Film controversies in the United States
Political controversies
Political controversies in film
Political controversies in the United States
Obscenity controversies in film
Works subject to a lawsuit
2000s English-language films
2000s American films