Gun fanaticism is rife in Australia, just as it is in America. Everyone should try to see the film on this subject which starts at the Nova theatre in Carlton on 26 December. American TV personality Michael Moore has done the community a great service by exposing the superficiality of the Charleston Heston’s of this world and their sick gun ideology. Here is an overview from the film’s promo.

Bowling For Columbine is a tour de force from award winning filmmaker, Michael Moore.

A rollicking, incendiary documentary that looks down the barrel of America’s love affair with firearms and gun culture to examine the garrison mentality of the suburban warrior/housewife, the people who live out the cliche of sleeping with a .44 under their pillow, and the napalm kid who enjoys testing recipes from The Anarchists Handbook.

In the wake of September 11, this stunningly brave piece of work boldly asks the question that in these wildly patriotic times no-one dares ask: ?Is the USA a nation of gun nuts or are they just nuts? Consider 68 gun deaths a year in the UK compared with the annual US figure of 11, 127!

Exploring the culture of violence in an America traumatised by terrorism, teenage killers and economic inequality, Moore puts hard questions to trigger-happy suburbanites and militia members, as well as National Rifle Association spokesman Charlton Heston, United States President George W Bush, shock rocker Marilyn Manson and South Park co-creator Matt Stone. Moore blends his trademark spiky humour, cartoon graphics and confrontational journalism to make Bowling For Columbine both entertaining and challenging at the same time.

Directed by social satirist Michael Moore – the man behind the incredibly successful 1989 documentary Roger & Me, the TV series The Awful Truth and the writer of the best selling books Stupid White Men and Downsize This! – Bowling For Columbine is the first documentary in 46 years to be selected for Official Competition at Cannes.

A powerful piece of filmmaking that will resonate with audiences in increasingly violent times. A damningly funny indictment of how a culture is armed to the teeth and running amuck, or is it a humorous warning about what could happen to any country that chooses the American Way?