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By ANTHONY KAUFMAN
May 25, 2007
WALL STREET JOURNAL

'SiCKO' Gets Healthy Response

MAY 19: Filmmaker Michael Moore received a warm reception at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday morning, where his latest movie "SiCKO," a critical look at the U.S. health-care system, premiered to the world's press. No stranger to the festival, Mr. Moore won the top prize, the Palme d'Or, for "Fahrenheit 9/11" three years ago here.

During the packed 8:30 a.m. morning press screening at the Grand Lumiere Theatre, several scenes in the documentary brought spontaneous applause, including a prologue segment that shows one man, without health care, stitching a large open wound on his leg with his own hand. (See a video clip, courtesy of YouTube.)

"SiCKO," however, doesn't focus on the uninsured, but the vast number of Americans who have health-care coverage, and their personal stories of frustration with the system. A teary-eyed mother recalls the story of her daughter's death when being transferred from one hospital to another owned by Kaiser Permanente. Another woman blames the U.S. system for the demise of her husband, who was denied a bone marrow transplant. After the screening, several U.S. critics and journalists admitted to crying during the film. (See a related article on "SiCKO.")

Dog Eat Dog Films
Director Michael Moore's "SiCKO" is one of the
most-anticipated films premiering at the festival.

The "straight-from-the-heart" approach of "SiCKO," as described in marketing materials, is less confrontational than what many audiences have come to expect from the director of "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11."

"It was a conscious decision," Mr. Moore said at a crowded press conference, where dozens of journalists were turned away outside. "I wanted a different tone," he said. "I thought about the whole conceit of the audience living vicariously though someone on screen. And it's not for Michael Moore to do it; it's for American people to do it. The film is a call to action."

Unlike his previous movies, Mr. Moore is also less of a visible force. While his voice narrates on the soundtrack, he doesn't appear on screen until an hour into the documentary.

During the largely flattering press conference, the few barbed questions came from Canadian journalists who criticized the film's overwhelmingly positive picture of universal health care in Canada. "I think you'd be hard pressed to find Canadians that would agree 20-40 minutes is a standard waiting time in a Canadian hospital," said Macleans magazine's Brian Johnson. "Why do you paint a picture so universally rosy in a country like Canada when it can undermine the credibility of your film?"

Mr. Moore acknowledged that health-care problems exist in Canada, the United Kingdom and France, all countries in which the film compares to the U.S.'s system, but he reiterated his opinion that U.S. industry remains far worse. "Would you give up your Canadian health-care card for an American one?" Mr. Moore said. "No," the journalist replied.

Mr. Moore also defended his decision to bring three boatloads of ailing U.S. citizens and 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba, where they hoped to receive the same medical care, in a wry sequence, as detainees in America's Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Denied access, Mr. Moore sought treatment for the Americans at Havana's central hospital, instead.

The move recently brought a legal response from the U.S. Treasury Department, who has charged Mr. Moore with violating the U.S. trade embargo and travel restrictions to Cuba. Mr. Moore said his plan was to travel to American soil all along. "If the detainee camp had been in a U.S. Naval base in the Philippines, Australia, Italy, or Spain, we would have gone there," he said.

Mr. Moore suggested that there was the possibility that the U.S. government may try to confiscate material that was illegally obtained in Cuba. Whether such an action may delay the film's theatrical release date on June 29 from the Weinstein Co. and Lionsgate, distributors of "Fahrenheit 9/11," Mr. Moore couldn't say.

He is due to respond to U.S. authorities on Tuesday.