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

Comprehensively exhaustive (facts, only the facts, nothing but the facts)

Sure William Karel won't indulge in some Michael Moore-like farcical overview. Karel is more of a documentary cistercian monk observing abstinence from humor and poverty of montages.

Well, to observe the same austerity in reviewing 'Le Monde selon Bush' I must say it's a well-documented investigation over the Bush administration with revealing questions (V.O.) answered by about 20 interviewees ranging from journalists, CIA insiders to such big shots as Richard Perle, Colin Powell or Carlyle's 'Don' Carlucci.

Strongly rooted in a careful definition of the Bush background and persona the documentary then grows into full blossom which might be overwhelming if you're not one hundred percent concentrated. There's so much to understand straight away then jump to the next implication that 'Le Monde selon Bush' is only valuable to people who already know it all. All the information is available here and there in articles and books so the documentary is only a quick recap for all you've heard, read or missed in the past couple of years. But that's definitely not a movie that will cater for grassroots audiences. What does remain on your RAM once you're through with the Karel weapon of mass documentation? Precise and revealing facts such as George W's passport (he didn't have one before 2000) or the vast array of links between political figures in office and industrial military businesses. Maybe it's enough to qualify for a PhD. in Bushonomics, cronyism and oversimplification. Maybe you'll leave that to other people.

So what's the more important thing for a documentary? Be strictly un-intrusive, which implies to hold your breath for 90 minutes? Or to have people moved by what they see so they think about it thereafter?