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America's political headache is in town. Academy Award winner Michael Moore's controversial documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" opened in theatres in Korea during the weekend. Written, narrated, produced and directed by Moore, the movie follows the changes in the United States under President George W. Bush from the 2000 presidential election through to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in New York and Washington and the ensuing U.S. military action in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The local distributor is banking on the movie's success in the U.S. and other countries including Britain and France, securing 80 screens throughout the country, the widest release so far in Korea for a documentary film. So how are moviegoers reacting?
"Knowing that the director made this movie to stop President Bush from being reelected, I was able to watch it with that bias in mind."
Most of Fahrenheit 9/11's ticket buyers are young people like 25-year-old Lee Sang-min who says he's been waiting for weeks to see it. "It showed a lot of the things that are not or cannot be dealt with on TV and by other mass media outlets. It gives us a chance to see those aspects."
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On Sunday, in front of Seoul Cinema are crowds of people coming see the movie "Fahrenheit 9/11." This anti-Bush movie released on July 22 is estimated to have grabbed around 150,000 moviegoers for three days on the first weekend.
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But even before opening day, there's been a great deal of interest in the movie. The progressive Democratic Labor Party held a special preview, turning up the heat on the government's plan to send some three thousand more soldiers to Iraq, which would make Korea the third largest foreign military presence in the Mideast country.
Earlier this month in a news conference in New York, Moore had himself urged Koreans to join the anti-troop deployment movement. It's still too early to tell if "Fahrenheit 9/11" will tip Korean sentiment against the planned troop deployment, but what does seem likely is that Koreans will get caught up in America's headache.
Arirang TV
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