Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a review of a flick that's out in Utah (read below to find out why) and is going theater to theater currently. I've heard lots of great stuff about this documentary, a film that follows the big splash of Utah Valley State College inviting Michael Moore as a speaker back in September. This had a big impact on the conservative community and entertainment ensues as the right plays tug-o-war with the left. This doc is supposed to underline this whole Red State Vs. Blue State syndrome that is raging all over the news these days. Anyway, here's the review! Enjoy!
Hello boys,
I'm a loooong time reader and occasional reviewer. Not often do I get a chance to review advanced or limited release stuff from the black hole of Utah, but for once I do. (Well, you know every once in a while... I wrote an AICN review a loooong time ago for that piece of crap Star Trek Insurection under the psuedonym "SpaceWhore") but there is a kickass documentary film playing in limited release in Salt Lake before it opens up in New York, Seattle and San Francisco a couple of others in August and according the website more in September before it comes out on DVD. I actually found out about the doc here on Elston's kickass weekly recap.
I really like the work the guys at the Disinformation company do and I thought "Outfoxed" was great so I got really excited to see "This Divided State" when I found out they were putting the DVD out in September sometime (I don't remember the date and it doesn't seem to be on the website)...
But This Divided State happened in Utah, so I guess that's why they opened it here instead of elsewhere. It's running at the Tower theatre in the moment (a really kickass art house in SLC, they just did Man with the Screaming brain a couple of weeks ago, it was rad) It seems like I'm rambling, so I'll go right into the review:
Back in September of last year Utah Valley State college decided it would be rad if they decided to invite Michael Moore to speak on campus. What the documentary reveals (and what us Utah natives know) is that Utah Valley State college is in the most backwards-ass conservative community in the country and people went crazy at the idea of such a liberal lightning rod coming into town. The media closed in and so did Stephen Greenstreet, the director of the doc. He did a Q & A last night that I caught at the 7:00 showing.
The guy that comes right into the spotlight as the outspoken conservative spokesperson is a dude named Kay Anderson. He's a real-estate millionaire who lives across the street from the college and he is nuts. He tried suing the school to prevent Michael Moore from speaking, he tried bribing, he even got up on a table outside the school and was like street preaching against it. He also predicts that Michael Moore will bring on the apocolypse repeatedly (it's amazing, you can see it on the trailer. I almost didn't beleive it when I heard it). There's also a Michael Moore look-alike/media whore, a kid who has no idea what he's talking about who collects a petition against the decision, the students who invited Moore on student council and a number of other outspoken individuals and college proffessors.
The film is interesting and almost always entertaining. It's also very short (90 minutes) and paced tightly. It's all cut chronologically too, and although the director said he admires michael moore, he made a conscious effort to keep himself out of it. He's not in the doc and he doesn't narrate it. Everyone is able to speak for themselves and although you learn from one of the professors that appears in the film that there is no such thing as an objective viewpoint, this doc comes close. The editing really impressed me and his depth of footage impressed me as well. He said afterwards that he had 9 or 10 cameras going at a time, but he paid for everything by himself. (he said that because of it, he and the assistant directors are all practically on welfare, even still).
The movie gets really emotional too. There's some times that you get choked up, others where you get pissed and others that just make you antsy. In between Sean Hannity and Michael Moores speeches (oh yeah, to "balance" the debate, the college brought in Sean Hannity) there's this godspeed song that just builds and builds and builds and it makes you really nervous, he almost makes you feel like Michael Moore IS the apocolypse. And then there's a really great version of woody guthries "This Land is Your Land" that they had a kickass local beer-band do (The Utah County Swillers) that covers a montage of the end, post lawsuit, post election day epilogues and it gave me the chills.
I think this film is important for people everywhere to see for a number of reasons and I'm glad it's going to play wider. The first reason is this: this is an accurate portayal of Utah. Utah seems so often like a different country. I go to California a lot for my work and when I come back to Utah the conservative tension in the air is palpable. Second: I think this is a good example of the larger conflict in the country, the red vs. blue divide (not halo red vs. blue). Third: I think it's great to support documentaries in the cinemas. How great would it be if one screen at everyone of these multiplexes was dedicated to docs and revivals? You'd probably go to the movies a lot more. So I think people should see it just to support the genre. Fourth: It's really, really, really good. I think it's WAY better than outfoxed. There's actually events unfolding in this doc, not talking heads. Fifth: Michael Moore isn't really in it all that much. I thought going into this, the doc would be following Michael Moore around, following the controversey. It's not that at all.
SPOILER
Mike only appears toward the end. He comes in, gives his speech and leaves immediately. They don't manage to prevent him from coming, but the fight is amazing to watch
SPOILERS OVER
Don't take my word for it though, check out the trailer they have up on their website and you will see.
If you use this rambling piece of shit then call me Darth Swank
