Sicko is a 2007 American documentary film made by filmmaker Michael Moore. The film investigates health care in the United States, focusing on health insurance and the pharmaceutical industry. The film compares a profit, non-universal US system with Canada's non-profit, British, French and Cuban non-profit healthcare system.
Sicko was made with a budget of about $ 9 million, and earned $ 25 million theatrically in the United States. The box office exceeds the official expectations of The Weinstein Company, which hopes to earn a gross income of $ 22 million US $ Bowling for Columbine gross box box.
Video Sicko
Sinopsis
According to Sicko, nearly fifty million Americans are uninsured while the rest, protected, are often the victims of insurance and bureaucratic fraud. In addition, Sicko says US health in general is ranked 37 out of 191 by the World Health Organization with certain health measures, such as infant mortality and life expectancy, similar to countries with far less economic wealth. Interviews were conducted with people who thought they had adequate coverage but were denied treatment. Former employees of insurance companies describe cost-cutting initiatives that give bonuses to insurance and other insurance companies to find reasons for companies to avoid fulfilling the necessary medical care costs for policyholders, thereby increasing the profitability of the company.
In Canada, a citizen describes the case of Tommy Douglas, who was elected the largest Canadian in 2004 for his contribution to the Canadian health system. Moore also interviewed a micro surgeon and awaiting in the emergency room of a Canadian general hospital.
Against the historical background of the American health care debate, the opposite of universal health care is set in the context of 1950s anti-communist propaganda. The 1950s records distributed by the American Medical Association, told by Ronald Reagan, warn that universal health care can lead to the loss of freedom and socialism. In response, Moore pointed out that publicized social services such as police, fire service, United States Postal Service, public education and community libraries have not caused communism in the United States.
The origins of the Organizational Health Maintenance Act of 1973 are presented using recorded conversations between John Ehrlichman and President Richard Nixon on February 17, 1971; Ehrlichman was heard telling Nixon that "... the less they care about giving them, the more money they make," a plan that Nixon says is "good" and "not bad." This led to the expansion of modern health care-based health care systems. Connections are highlighted between Pharmaceutical Research and American Manufacturers (PhRMA), lobbyist for the largest drug company in the United States, lobby groups at Washington D.C., and Congress. Hillary Clinton, a champion of Clinton's health care plan, was featured as a fighter for change, who was appointed to reform the health care system in the United States by her newly elected President Bill Clinton's husband. His efforts were filled with harsh criticism by Republicans on Capitol Hill, and right-wing media across the country, characterizing his plan as a pioneer of socialism. When he is defeated, his punishment is to "never talk about it again while in the White House."
In the United Kingdom, a country whose National Health Service is a publicly funded health care system, Moore interviews patients and asks about hospitalization costs incurred by patients, only to be told there is no payment outside the pocket. Moore visited a typical UK pharmacy, where drugs are free of charge to everyone in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and under 16, 16-17 in full-time education, disability, unemployment, or over 60 in the UK, and subsidized in most cases for everyone (in the UK); only the fixed amount of Ã, Â £ 6.65 (about $ 10) per item on the prescription is charged, regardless of the cost for the NHS. Furthermore, NHS hospitals use cashiers, part of the job is to replace low-income patients for their travel expenses to the hospital. The interview included an NHS general practitioner, an American woman living in London, and British politician Tony Benn.
In France, Moore visited the hospital and interviewed the head of obstetrics and gynecology and a group of American expatriates. Moore rides with "SOS MÃÆ' Â © decins", a 24-hour French medical service that provides home calls by doctors. Moore found that the French government provides many social services and rights other than health care, such as $ 1 per day daycare, free college education, a legal minimum, five-week legal vacation, and neonatal support that includes cooking, cleaning and service laundry for a new mom.
Back in the United States, the interview revealed that the 9/11 rescue workers who volunteered after the September 11, 2001 attacks were denied government funds to treat the physical and psychological diseases they later developed, including PTSD-induced respiratory illness and bruxism. Unable to receive and pay for medical treatment in the United States, 9/11 rescue workers, as well as all of Moore's friends in films requiring medical care, sailed from Miami to Cuba on three speedboats to get free medical care provided to enemy fighters held in Guantanamo Bay US detention camp. The group arrives at the entrance to "Gitmo" and Moore uses the megaphone to request access, begging the 9/11 victims to receive care equivalent to the medical attention received by "criminals". The attempt stopped when the siren was detonated from the base, and the group moved to Havana, where they bought cheap medicines and received free medical care at the elite Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital. Just giving their name and date of birth, the volunteers are hospitalized and receive medical treatment. Before they left, the 9/11 rescue workers were honored by a local Havana firefighter.
Finally, Moore speaks to the audience, emphasizing that people should "take care of each other, no matter the difference." To show his personal commitment to this theme, Moore decided to help one of his greatest critics, Jim Kenefick. According to a blog post, Kenefick is afraid he should close the anti-Moore website because he needs US $ 12,000 to cover medical treatment costs for his sick wife. Not wanting the US health care system to beat Kenefick's ability to express his opinion, Moore sent Kenefick the money "anonymously."
The film ends with Moore walking toward the United States Capitol with a basket full of his clothes, cynically saying he will ask the government to wash his clothes until a better day arrives for the sick and hopeless person who can not receive health care.
Maps Sicko
Release
Sicko aired on May 19, 2007, at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, received a 17-minute applause from 2,000 people at the Grand Theater Lumiere. The North American premiÃÆ'¨re of Sicko was held in London, Ontario (where several scenes from films were filmed), in Silver City cinema at Masonville Place on June 8, 2007, with Moore in attendance. It also has an initial premium in Washington DC. on June 20, two days before its release in the US, with Moore appearing at Capitol Hill's press conference to promote the film.
The European premiÃÆ'¨re was held in England on October 24, 2007, at Odeon Leicester Square as part of the 51st London Film Festival. Moore was to introduce the film, but remained in the United States due to 'family matter', sent a long letter to read in his absence. Part of the letter was grateful to Rt Hon. Tony Benn, featured in the film, which delivered a short speech before the show.
box office
Built on a $ 9 million budget, Sicko earned $ 4.5 million on its opening weekend. In 441 theaters, averaging $ 10,204 per theater, the second-highest gross average on weekends. On February 24, 2008, Sicko has earned $ 25 million in the United States and $ 11 million in overseas markets. Overall, the film earns more than $ 36 million. The film was also a huge success in DVD sales where it raised more than $ 60 million in sales.
Critical reaction
According to the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film offers a 92% positive rating, based on 215 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Driven by the sincere humanism of Michael Moore, Sicko > is a devastating, convincing, and highly entertaining documentary about the health care of the state of America. " Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 39 reviews, showing "generally favorable reviews". After its release in Cannes, Variety described Sicko as "influencing and entertaining dissection of the American health care industry".
In an earlier review a week before the premiere, Richard Roeper and Michael Phillips gave the film two thumbs up. Roger Friedman of Fox News called the film "a brilliant new film and confirms" and praised Moore for the way he used "greatly articulates the average American telling their personal horror stories in the hands of the insurance company" and "criticizing both Democrats as well as the Republic for their inaction and in some cases their willingness to be bribed by pharmaceutical companies and insurance carriers. "
British film magazine Empire praised Moore's making of film and personal artistic vision, exclaiming "Sicko is a film that really reveals Moore as an auteur."
David Denby of New Yorker calls the film "weak, even ridiculous," but film critic Stephen Schaefer of Boston Globe describes Sicko as a "very strong and very honest about the truly corrupt health system and it does not care about the patient. "
The film was recorded as the fourth best film 2007 by Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times , as well as the best 8 by Marjorie Baumgarten of The Austin Chronicle .
Appreciation
Sicko is nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature. It was also praised in the 2007 Australian Film Critics Film Award for Best Documentary Film.
Response
News media
Journalist John Stossel wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal claiming Julie Pierce's husband Tracy, featured in Sicko, would not be saved by a bone marrow transplant that she rejected. underwriters. Stossel also questioned whether this treatment would be provided in the universal health care system, citing long waiting lists and waiting in Canada and the UK. Julie Pierce claims Stossel never contacted her doctor or her husband, and that the insurance company also refused other treatments and questioned Stossel's statement that Tracy would not accept this in a socialized system, arguing that they were more often done in Canada than in the US.
Moore insisted in the film and in an interview with Stossel that the care provided at Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital exactly as it was given to the Cuban people; but Stossel's investigation led Stossel to conclude that hospitals only provide services to Cuban elites and that this treatment is not available to the average Cuban person. Responding to criticism that only good Cubans receive proper health care standards, Michael Moore added on his website the results of an independent Gallup poll where "nearly 100 percent of respondents say that health care in Cuba is accessible to everyone". An article in Miami Herald interviewed some exiled Cubans in the United States criticizing Sicko to paint a beautiful picture of Cuba's health system.
In an article published in The New Yorker and Reason magazine, Michael C. Moynihan calls the film "touching, naÃÆ'¯ve and annoying, a clumsy piece of agitprop that is likely to have little lasting effect on health care debates ". Surgeon and Associate Director of Brigham and Women's and Women's Health Surgery Center at Atul Gawande commented, " Sicko is a revelation.That makes it very strange to say is that the film did not bring anything that the media yet covering extensively over the years. "
Kurt Loder criticized the film as presenting cherry facts, manipulative interviews, and unproven statements. While acknowledging that the US health care system needs to be reformed, Loder criticizes Moore's advocacy of government control, arguing that many of the services controlled by governments are not considered efficient by the American public. Loder points to a 2005 film, Dead Meat , by Stuart Browning and Blaine Greenberg, which documents a long waiting list for care in Canada. Loder shows the call for reform in England and France because of the same rationing.
Today United States Richard Wolf says, " Sicko uses omissions, exaggeration and cinematic greed to make his point."
Radio WBAI, part of the Pacific Radio Network, reported that Sicko revitalized the debate for universal health care in the United States, calling the movie "adrenaline for health care activists."
Health care industry
In a letter responding to Wall Street Journal published by David Gratzer who criticized the film, Robert S. Bell, MD, president and CEO of University Health Network, Toronto, said that while Moore "exaggerates performance of the Canadian health system, "it provides universal coverage of the same quality that only Americans enjoy. Michael Moore posted a leaked memo from Capital Blue Cross employees about the possible consequences of the film. The memo expressed concern that the film was turning people into Capital Blue Cross by linking it to a violation by a profit-seeking HMO.
A July 9, 2007 broadcast of CNN The Situation Room aired a segment of "fact-checking" by a CNN senior health correspondent. Sanjay Gupta on Sicko . Immediately after the segment, Moore was interviewed live on CNN by Wolf Blitzer. Moore states that Gupta's report is inaccurate and biased. Moore posted a point-by-point response on his website. After a debate with Moore on Larry King Live, Gupta posted a message about his position on Sicko and CNN coverage.
Wendell Potter
Wendell Potter acknowledged that when he worked as Head of Corporate Communications at CIGNA, the American health insurance umbrella body, American Health Insurance, has developed a campaign to discredit Michael Moore and his film. When asked what he thinks of the Potter movie says that "I think he hit the nail on the head with his film, but industry, from that moment the industry knows that Michael Moore is taking the health care industry, it's very concerned.... people will trust Michael Moore. "
Journalist Bill Moyers reports that PBS has obtained a copy of the "game plan" adopted by the industry trade association, the American Health Insurance Plan that outlines an industry strategy to "Highlight the horror story of a government-run system." Potter explains, "The industry is always trying to make Americans think that the government-run system is the worst thing that might happen to them, that even if you consider it, you're headed for a slippery slope towards socialism, so they've been using scare tactics for years years and years, to keep it going.If there is a wider program like our Medicare program now, it could potentially reduce the profits of these big companies, so that's their biggest concern. "
Moyers reported and Potter confirmed that there was an attempt to radicalize Moore in an effort to discredit the film's message. Moore will be called a "Hollywood entertainer" or "Hollywood filmmaker" to associate the film as a basis for baseless entertainment in objective reality. "They want you to see this as a fantasy made by Hollywood filmmakers, that's part of the strategy." Potter said that the strategy was successful and the impact of the film was "blunted" by public relations campaigns. He agrees that Sicko contains a "great truth" which he says is "that we should not fear government involvement in our health care system that there is a proper role for government, the country in the movie.You know, we have more people who do not have insurance in this country than the whole Canadian population, and if you're among the less-assured, more people than in the UK, living in a place far from joining a row of uninsured people, or being annihilated by their insurance company, and ending there. "
Think tanks
Free market thinkers, such as the Manhattan Institute, say that Sicko misrepresented the Canadian, British and Cuban health systems, and criticized it for its negative portrayal of the American health insurance system. compared with these countries.
The National Policy Analysis Center, an American conservative think tank, has also been critical of Moore's claims, primarily focusing on the long waiting list and the unavailability of new treatments in publicly funded health systems from the UK and Canada, an aspect of the system. which they suspect Moore failed to overcome.
The left-from-center/liberal-inclined (UI) Urban Institute strongly agrees with Moore regarding the need for a universal health care system and the current system failures. Urban Institute economist Linda Blumberg stated that Moore correctly provided evidence that the current system failed and a universal system was needed, adding that any system would face budgetary constraints. Overall, Blumberg stated that "Americans as a whole have not bought the philosophy that health care is a right and not a privilege" and if Moore succeeds in popularizing the idea, he "will have done the country extraordinary service." Bradford Gary agrees with key points made by Moore but criticizes the film for making negligence and lacking attention to detail, stating that "although Moore is not interested in the details behind the anger he has summarized, many of his fundamental points remain accurate."
Moorewatch
About Moore's donation to Jim and Donna Kenefick from Moorewatch.com, while Donna Kenefick thanked Moore, saying that her money was "paid for our health insurance premium and gave us a breathing room to handle our debts," Jim Kenefick denied Moore's report this event, saying that the insurance would pay for his wife's needs, and that his site operated again thanks to a donor's donation long before he received a Moore check. Kenefick accused Moore of presenting his words out of context to defame him, and both Kenefick and his fellow blogger, Lee, criticized Moore for claiming to donate this anonymously, only to highlight it in his movie. They accuse him of being motivated by a desire for publicity and pride rather than altruism.
At the Cannes press conference, after the donor's identity was revealed, Moore said: "I have to ask myself, 'Are you going to write this check if it's not in the movie?' I decided this was what I would do, and what I had to do, and this is the way I want Americans to live. "
WikiLeaks cable in Cuba and Sicko
Sicko is shown in cinemas across Cuba and on national TV. Nevertheless, the former US Interests Section in the head of Havana Michael E. Parmly wrote a diplomatic cable on January 31, 2008, which partially reads:
XXXXXXXXXXXX stated that Cuban authorities have banned the Michael Moore movies, Sicko , as subversive. Although the purpose of the film is to discredit the US health system by highlighting the benefits of the Cuban system, he says the regime knows the film is a myth and does not want to risk a popular reaction by pointing out to Cuban facilities that are clearly not available to most of them.
The newspaper Guardian, in collaboration with WikiLeaks, who leaked the cable, initially reported the cable claims as fact, then printed out that Moore complained about the factual error, and finally the Guardian printed the correction, confirmed the film was actually shown in Cuba. Moore argues that US officials are just making a story to discredit the movie because it depicts the US health system in a negative light.
Legal controversy
Hijacking
The film leaked to the Internet two weeks before its official release on June 29, 2007. Moore denied leaking the film for publicity, and the investigation made into a source of Internet leakage. When asked about the leak, Moore said, "I'm just glad people can see my movie I'm not a big supporter of copyright law in this country... I do not understand bands or filmmakers... who are opposed to sharing, their work shared by people, because it only increases your fan base. "
Inspection of the Treasury
In a letter of May 2, 2007, the Office of Foreign Assets Control informed Moore that he was the subject of a civil investigation that originated from a filmmaker's March trip to Cuba. In a letter to Moore, a Treasury official noted that the department did not have a record of Moore obtaining a license that gave him the authority to "engage in travel-related transactions involving Cuba," alleging that Moore violated the US embargo against Cuba. A duplicate master copy of the film is being held in Canada should an attempt has been made by American authorities to seize the film as part of an investigation into Moore that emerged from taking an American 9/11 rescue worker to Cuba for medical treatment. Moore says that trips made for journalism are usually covered under a general license, which does not require pre-authorization by the Department of Foreign Affairs. Moore stated that his intention was to travel to the US Navy base in Guantano Bay. Upon the arrival of Moore at Guantánamo Bay, sirens sounded and Moore decided to turn around for safety.
On the The Tonight Show , Moore reported that he was informed that the summons of his trip to Cuba had been issued. According to anonymous sources reported by Reuters, Moore has not been served; Instead, the government contacted his lawyer, David Boies, to discuss the logistics of serving a subpoena.
Deleted scenes and extras
DVD releases including Moore deleted segments were filmed but not used in the theatrical release. Some scenes from the section on health care in the UK show footage of homeless shelters where people receive acupuncture and foot massage. The scene wasted in France included an interview with an employee of General Electric, who told Moore that they benefited in France that GE employees did not accept in the United States. The scene that shows Moore's visit to Norway and describes a system of health care, social benefits, and a prison system based on rehabilitation removed from the film because the Norwegian health care system, overseen by the Norwegian Health Supervisory Agency, has many benefits similar to the French system. Like the French health care system, Norwegian patients treated for ailments such as psoriasis or rheumatism are shown to be eligible for a two-week paid holiday at a spa in the Canary Islands. Norway hires a government ethicist to determine how to invest the fortune from the country's oil wealth, because they want to do it in an ethical way. The scene where Moore visited BastÃÆ'¸y Prison, a Norwegian island prison, was also removed. Here, inmates live in small group homes and focus on rehabilitation through work and agriculture manually.
Deleted American health care scenes include an uninsured woman who was offered a 50% discount for the treatment of spinal cancer. He still could not afford the initial consultation, so he held a fundraiser to pay for it. After the initial visit, a 50 percent discount was lifted when the hospital found that he had earned money to pay for his treatment through fundraising, which the hospital deems as revenue earned. Interview with Marcia Angell was also removed. The former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine criticized the practices of pharmaceutical companies and the Food and Drug Administration. Executive producer Harvey Weinstein asked Moore to remove Hillary Clinton's critical scene, but Moore refused. Weinstein, whose company provides financing for the film, is a Clinton family friend.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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