Michael Moore as a director has always been known for his tongue-in-cheek style movies, easing into a serious topic in a high-spirited way, making himself the comic relief.
This 2016 film, Where to invade next, is Michael Moore’s 21st project, a documentary on the differences in American and European handling of paid vacation, school lunch as well as the curriculum, the prison system, and many more. The title is ironizing America’s constant war involvement that spanned roughly 100 years, from the time America entered the First World War, in 1917, to 2021 when American troops left Afghanistan.
The first country Michael sets his sights on is Italy, where he gets a glance at the way Italy deals with the employees’ free time, giving them a 2-hour lunch break, paid maternity leave of 5 months, and other benefits regarding vacation. Moore successfully plants the American flag on Italian soil and moves onto…
France, there, after taking part in a run-of-the-mill lunch at a grade school, where the children receive a well-thought-of meal consisting of red meat, fish, vegetables, and an entree of cheese, which is decided on by a group of teachers and the school chef, he decides the American way works best and leaves, coke in hand, for Finland.
Finland offers him a new perspective on the schooling system in which kids spend an average of 3 hours in class and receive no homework. After a talk with the school officials, he successfully conquers Finland, leaving behind the American flag.
Later he touches down on the shores of Portugal, learning about the drug leniency
in the country, and its view on addiction as a disease and not as a crime. The ban on the death sentence leaves Michael dumbfounded, but he learns he could not steal these great ideas without implementing other things such as free healthcare, and voting for inmates.
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