Le monde selon Bush (2004) (TV)

Director:

William Karel

Writers:

William Karel (writer)
Eric Laurent (book)

Release Date:

27 May 2004 (Belgium)

Genre:

Documentary | War

Plot:

The 1000 days of George W. Bush's presidency from the 9/11 attacks to the iraqi quagmire. How a bunch of people influenced by neo-cons hawks took control of the US foreign policy.

Plot Keywords:

George W. Bush | Iraq | Afghanistan | Iraq War | Post September 11 2001

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

John Ashcroft	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert Baer	...	Himself
Tony Blair	...	Himself (archive footage)
Anthony Blinken	...	Himself
Hans Blix	...	Himself
William Boykin	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
Laura Bush	...	Herself (archive footage)
Robert Byrd	...	Himself (archive footage)
Frank Carlucci	...	Himself
Dick Cheney	...	Himself (archive footage)
David Corn	...	Himself
Arnaud de Borchgrave	...	Himself
Viêt Dinh	...	Himself
David Frum	...	Himself
Sam Gwynne	...	Himself
Jim Hoagland	...	Himself
Stanley Hoffmann	...	Himself
Saddam Hussein	...	Himself (archive footage)
Hamid Karzai	...	Himself (archive footage)
David Kay	...	Himself
Matt Lauer	...	Himself (archive footage)
Michael Ledeen	...	Himself
Charles Lewis	...	Himself
Norman Mailer	...	Himself
Ed McAteer	...	Himself
Laurent Murawiec	...	Himself
William Odom	...	Himself
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar	...	Himself
Richard Perle	...	Himself
Colin Powell	...	Himself
James Robison	...	Himself
Donald Rumsfeld	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert Steele	...	Himself
George Tenet	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joseph Trento	...	Himself
Joseph Wilson	...	Himself
Paul Wolfowitz	...	Himself (archive footage)
James Woolsey	...	Himself

Also Known As:

The World According to Bush (International: English title) (USA)
Pourquoi Bush ne sera pas réélu en 2004 (France) (working title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

France | Belgium | Switzerland

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

France

Company:

Flach Film

Trivia:

The Cannes Film Festival organizers were keen to include this movie in the Official Selection but dismissed it when Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) by Michael Moore was selected.

Quotes:

[first lines]
George W. Bush: To those of you who received honors, awards, and distinctions, I say, well done. And to the C students, I say, you, too, can be President of the United States.
Norman Mailer: We have the worst President in America's history. He's ignorant, he's arrogant, he's stupid in all ways but one: which is that he's immensely shrewd about the American people, particularly the less intelligent half of America. Because they're very happy with him in that they realize how stupid he is, and they say to themselves, "Wonderful! If that stupid guy can be President, so can I."
[...]

Soundtrack:

Self-evident

An overshadowed yet incredible work

I literally accidentally saw this film in a cinema on the Champs-Elysées in Paris one evening in mid-July planning on seeing Shrek 2. I asked the usher what his favourite film was, and he told me "Le Monde Selon Bush", making sure to point out that it was not the film by Michael Moore. Having seen "Fahrenheit 9/11" recently, I decided to see France's take on the Bush administration. I had no idea what I had gone into.

This film is a triumph in terms of documentaries. It's narrated in French, but nearly the entire film is a series of interviews and archive footage, all in English, with French subtitles. The interviews are just amazing. They construct the entire Bush administration from the inauguration in January 2001 up until present day. Several key figures (including Iraqi weapons inspector Hans Blix and notorious Bush aide Paul Wolfowitz) as well as many White House insiders construct a portrait of the interior and goings-on within the Bush administration, frequently focusing on the religious aspects. The facts are so overwhelming and shocking that I literally felt short of breath in several instances. The footage is not doctored, the interviews very articulate and straight-forward, and the effect is absolutely stunning to say the least. Everything speaks for itself. From time to time, the narrator connects the testimonials into a network of characterisations that, with seemingly stunning accuracy, paint the zeal and fervour of the Bush administration, even hinting at the usage/ believing of the medieval divine right. The images of Bush being blessed on his way from Crawford to the White House, an Army General fervently preaching at a Baptist church, and the testimony of a White House staffer being told by Donald Rumsfeld on a Sunday morning that he "missed Bible study" are just some of the amazing and moving images in this film.

Weeks later, after having travelled to Nice and upon my return to Paris, I found the DVD recently released. Seeing as that I was moving to the States (in region 1) and that the DVD was encoded zone 2, I decided not to buy it. However, if you live in Europe, I implore you to find this film. See it by any means necessary. You won't regret it. What I wouldn't give to see the reception of it here.

And for the record, it ran laps around "Fahrenheit 9/11".