Sicko 2007

Directed By: Michael Moore

Michael Moore is a polemicist who has always used quite controversial and extreme methods of depiction is addressing the issues he approaches. Not least with his last feature Fahrenheit 9/11 which had as many supporters as it did detractors. Mainly for his propagandist style and in your face approach. That the film won the Palme D’or at Cannes and Moore’s presence there caused controversy was no surprise considering the film was an attempt to usurp George Bush’s chances of winning a second term. As so after Fahrenheit 9/11 it felt like there was nothing left for Moore to throw his considerable weight at. But it seems that in the interim between his last and current film Moore has developed a more relaxed style and with his latest Sicko, has achieved his greatest film yet. Sicko looks at America’s health care system and the lack of a free national health service. But rather than focus on the poverty stricken citizens who can not afford health insurance so are literally turned away from hospitals regardless of their well being, instead looking at those American’s who have spent their lives paying health insurance only for the insurance companies to turn down their claims.

With this film Moore has hit a form previously hinted at but never quite achieved with Bowling For Columbine or Fahrenheit 9/11. Perhaps with the absence of an actual figurehead to attack; Bush in Fahrenheit, Heston in Columbine, Moore has had to focus his attention on the greater issue. And by doing so he has been able to engage his comical wit to greater levels than previously. This film will haunt its audience as the tragedy of the American health system is revealed but Moore’s to the point narrating and questioning not only brings humour to the interviews but also brings great humour from the interviewees.

As Moore develops his argument he uses a series of case studies which overwhelm and draw out the emotional connection the film seeks. As the different medical problems arise and the insurance companies continue to refuse payment we begin to see the endemic problem in America. That doctors working for this companies are given bonuses for avoiding financial loss by paying out on claimants just highlights the profit before service policy. Gradually Moore extends his argument beyond the US and looks north to Canada, a country which like Britain enjoys free health care. Along with the comparisons drawn with Britain, Canadians have a what Moore seemingly considers a luxurious system of free health care. Moore even poses the questions which seem obvious. Why should one tax payer pay for another to have health care. Moore seems genuinely interested to understand why and how the system works outside the US, where the insurance companies and pharmaceuticals conglomerates seek to abolish any chance of free health.

In Britain Moore reaches his comical best, berating every patient he can find with questions trying to understand how everything is paid for. The patients provide as much humour as Moore and although we see only a small section of the NHS; such as a doctor who earns half a million a year. What Moore is highlighting is that Doctors are not destined for poverty by working within a free, government run system. This is a film aimed directly at American audiences who have been told; by the reliably untrustworthy media that free health care would lead to a Socialist state without the freedom to choose. Moore wants to inspire the American people. As Tony Benn states that if ever anything like America’s system occurred in Britain there would be a revolution. Moore is challenging his people to do just this.

The film then gets even better, if at all possible, by visiting France, which has the best health service in the world. Moore is genuinely shocked and in awe at what France offers its people for free. It’s a final illumination of just how wrong the system in the US is.

For a final jab at the administration, and to remind audiences that this is Michael Moore, he takes a group of 9/11 volunteers who have been denied treatment by insurance companies to Guantanamo Bay; the only place in America where you can access free health service in an attempt to get these neglected heroes treatment. What Cuba offers these people is understanding, time and above all else, patient care.

It’s a heartfelt ending to one of the most powerful documentaries made in recent years. Moore has focused his attention on a genuine atrocity in America and in doing so has delivered one of the most accessible, enjoyable and thoroughly mind blowing documentaries you may ever see.