In fact, "Bowling For Columbine" is a well-intended wake-up call. "I think this film is a warning," he says. "It's a warning to other countries not to go down the American road."
There is an innate British ethic, he says, which is a feeling of collective responsibility for the sick and poor. Whereas the American ethic is "F**k you! Pull yourself up by your bootstraps! Every man for himself! Me me me me me. That's the American ethic, okay? That's the dark side of our soul. And what has it got us? 11,000 gun murders a year."
Britain, says Moore, has 68 gun murders a year; Japan has 39, and Canada 165.
So what's wrong with America? He suggests that it is an inherently heartless country, but is at a loss to explain exactly why. This is at once the great failing and success of the film. Moore provides no definitive answers, but articulates feelings of confusion, fear and hopelessness that extend well beyond America. I ask whether he feels genuine despair at the state of his country.
"Yes," he intones. "Enormous." And how does he keep from becoming entirely misanthropic? "Sense of humour. That's the only saving grace. Growing up in an Irish Catholic household. You know the basic Irish view of life is pretty bleak to begin with. So drinking or laughing or a combination of both is required in order to prevent us from doing what the church prohibits us from doing, which is offing ourselves." He laughs. "We have a very low suicide rate and high birth rate. We realise we're stuck here for a long time, so we'd better make the best of it.
There is an innate British ethic, he says, which is a feeling of collective responsibility for the sick and poor. Whereas the American ethic is "F**k you! Pull yourself up by your bootstraps! Every man for himself! Me me me me me. That's the American ethic, okay? That's the dark side of our soul. And what has it got us? 11,000 gun murders a year."
Britain, says Moore, has 68 gun murders a year; Japan has 39, and Canada 165.
So what's wrong with America? He suggests that it is an inherently heartless country, but is at a loss to explain exactly why. This is at once the great failing and success of the film. Moore provides no definitive answers, but articulates feelings of confusion, fear and hopelessness that extend well beyond America. I ask whether he feels genuine despair at the state of his country.
"Yes," he intones. "Enormous." And how does he keep from becoming entirely misanthropic? "Sense of humour. That's the only saving grace. Growing up in an Irish Catholic household. You know the basic Irish view of life is pretty bleak to begin with. So drinking or laughing or a combination of both is required in order to prevent us from doing what the church prohibits us from doing, which is offing ourselves." He laughs. "We have a very low suicide rate and high birth rate. We realise we're stuck here for a long time, so we'd better make the best of it.