The Edge hears what American comedian Michael Moore has to say about his latest controversy, a satirical documentary on the Columbine High School massacre.

"Are we a nation of gun nuts- or are we just plain nuts?" asks American Michael Moore as he embarks into his new feature-length documentary. The answer -which becomes apparent minutes into the film- is without a doubt ‘both’. Bowling for Columbine sees Moore seeking to find out the reasons behind America’s violent gun culture. Why, he asks, are gun-related crimes so prevalent in the USA? And more specifically, what led to the Columbine massacre?

Speaking at a London press conference, Moore was keen to highlight that although "Columbine was the trigger" for the documentary, it was by no means what gave him the idea. "The idea had been percolating in my head for a long time- doing something about the American thirst for violence, and why we so often use violence as a means to an end. I mean, I’ve been thinking about this since I was a kid. You can’t help but think about it if you live in the United States."

As we have come to expect from him, Moore approaches what is an essentially tragic subject matter and deals with it the only way he knows how: by laughing in its face. "What keeps me from despair, he says, is my sense of humour. We (the Irish Catholic) have a pretty dark view, a morose take on things, and the only way to alleviate that is either to drink or to laugh. And I’ve chosen laughter, I guess, as my own pain medication." It is true that from the outset, the humour in Bowling for Columbine makes the harsh realities exposed slightly more bearable. Predictably, when word came out that he was making a comedy, yes, a comedy about the Columbine shootings, Moore was faced with an upsurge of uninformed criticism. To this, he answers with a quote from Mark Twain which couldn’t ring more true: "Against an assault of laughter, nothing can stand."

The film opens with Moore returning to his home state of Michigan after hearing that one of the banks was giving away a free gun with each account opened. "Don’t you think it’s a little dangerous, handing out guns in a bank?" he asks. The blank stares which serve for a response speak louder than words. At first, the focus is very much on the Coulmbine school shootings. Moore is trying to find out, as we all would like to, what could have led two boys to such an act. From the boys classmates, he gets no real answers other than that they were ‘weird kids’. It becomes obvious, if it wasn’t already, that guns are a very real problem in American high schools, with children being suspended on a regular basis for bringing them in. Disturbing footage from the CCTV cameras in the cafeteria the morning of the massacre follow, and the mood darkens. Why, why, why? asks Moore. Predictably, one of the answers he receives is that kids listen to too much ‘evil’ music. Marilyn Manson is the usual suspect, and so off Moore goes to meet him. It turns out he’s a pretty decent sort of chap, who brings attention to the fact that the president of their country is inciting youth into violence far more than he ever could. "Did you know, asks Moore, that on the day of the Columbine massacre, the USA dropped more bombs on Kosovo than ever before?". Marilyn Manson did know that actually, and there is the irony. So if it’s not the music, what then? It transpires that the killers went bowling on the morning of that attack, so maybe we should blame bowling, concludes Moore- thus the title. Later, Moore will take two seriously injured survivors of the attack to K-Mart (department store) to return the 70 cent bullets still embedded in their spine.

During the shooting of the documentary, a six year old boy shoots dead a six year old girl at school near Michael’s own home town. The focus of the film quickly moves to this incident, and the underlying reasons behind it (poverty and poor social services being the ones that spring to mind).

Bowling for Columbine, though a slightly disjointed affair (so much to say, so little time!), is a funny, moving, and above all educational portrait of American gun culture.

Moore’s talent lies in letting people dig themselves into their own hole, as he stands by. He never deliberately ridicules the people he meets, and has none of Louis Theroux’s candid malice. He treads carefully and treats the hardcore gun maniacs with a respect which, in many people’s view, they just don’t deserve. This makes for very funny viewing. One of the most triumphant moments of the film is when Charlton Heston (who chairs the National Rifle Association) walks away from Moore mid-interview, incapable of justifying himself any longer.

Is there a message for us Brits in this all-American fiasco? Moore hopes so:

"I think there’s hope for you. I don’t know if there’s hope for us. I wish I could be more optimistic about our chances but you’ve only started to go down our road, and this film should be a warning to the British public. You know, if you want to end up like this, keep doing what you're doing. Keep taking away your social services, make it harder for them (your people), make their lives more miserable than they already are, commit more acts of state sponsored violence and terrorism against your poor. You keep doing that and you will have, as you have started to, a more violent society, more crime, more fear." Let’s all listen to the wise American in the cap.

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