America’s confessional cinema

Two big movies on release at the moment – Michael Moore’s Sicko and the thriller Rendition – have in common a deep strand of American self-loathing. Say what you like about Moore: his films are awesomely powerful and well-constructed. And who can doubt that his target this time – the US health system – is a soft one? But his travels to Britain to see the NHS, France, Canada and even Cuba – all to demonstrate the wickedness of America – are spectacularly credulous. In one scene, he interviews a British GP about how terrific his pay is, how brilliant the system is and (wait for it) how little the British Government intervenes. Wow! That is fantastic! Shame he didn’t discuss MRSA, the waiting times in most A & E units and the closure of maternity units. But I guess that wouldn’t have served his overriding purpose: to show America in a bad light, comparatively.