"Bowling for Columbine" is an alternately humourous and
horrifying film about the United States. It is a film about the
state of the Union, about the violent soul of America. Why do 11,000
people die in America each year at the hands of gun violence? The
talking heads yelling from every TV camera blame everything from
Satan to video games. But are we that much different from many other
countries? What sets us apart? How have we become both the master
and victim of such enormous amounts of violence? This is not a film
about gun control. It is a film about the fearful heart and soul of
the United States, and the 280 million Americans lucky enough to
have the right to a constitutionally protected Uzi.
"Bowling for Columbine" was the first documentary film accepted
into competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 46 years. The Cannes
jury unanimously awarded it the 55th Anniversary Prize. From a look
at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of
Oscar-winning NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who
makes homemade napalm with The Anarchist's Cookbook to the
murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old, "Bowling for
Columbine" is a journey through America, and through our past,
hoping to discover why our pursuit of happiness is so riddled with
violence.
Oscar of the best Documentary in 2003
