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The Moore the merrier

In his new documentary, which was screened in Cannes a few days ago, Moore also trains his guns on profit-driven private health insurance and pharmaceutical companies while the government turns a blind eye to their malpractices galore. Through his signature walk-and-talk interviews and posing treacherously dumb questions to the people he meets, Moore piles up cases to turn the spotlight on those millions of Americans who pay for health insurance through their nose only to be cheated out of their rightful claims on flimsiest grounds.

And if you thought Moore is sufficiently chastened not to make fresh snide comments on the war on terror, think again. Hitting below the belt, Moore, at the end of his tongue-in-cheek documentary, takes a group of ailing 9/11 volunteers to Guantanamo Bay (where, he says, people detained as terror suspects can avail of free, universal medical care that is out of bounds for US citizens) and thence to Cuba to check whether the heroes could get a better treatment there. For his travel to Castroland, the US Treasury Department has apparently "notified" him and media reports say efforts are on to impound the film, which, according to its producers, is hidden elsewhere.

But Moore is unabashed, as he regards all attempts to gag him as free publicity for his film. What is most interesting is the way he counters the criticism of his method of filmmaking. The main allegation hurled at his works is what his critics call "unbalanced reportage". For example, in Sicko, his detractors point out, there's apparently no attempt to speak to the people against whom his polemic is directed.

In defence of his craft, Moore asserts in no uncertain terms that his works are like the Op-Ed pages of a newspaper. If he feels strongly about issues close to his heart, he has no qualms about playing to the gallery rather than keeping up a pretence of neutrality.

You do need some zany ideas or merciless political lampoons from Moore and also performers like Sacha Baron Cohen to jolt people out of their stupor.