Americans and Guns : Michael Moore's provocative new documentary triesto come to grips with a school massacre in Colorado.(Bowling for Columbine)(Brief Article)

On the morning of April 20, 1999, two gun-wielding teen-agers walked into their school, Columbine High, in Littleton, Colorado, opened fire and killed 12 fellow students and one teacher--perhaps the most shocking recent example of gun violence in America. The massacre prompted U.S. filmmaker Michael Moore, armed with cameras and boom mikes, to travel across America--and Canada--to try to understand why the United States has the highest gun-related murder rate in the world. The result is "Bowling for Columbine," a provocative and disturbing documentary that examines how America's violent history, frayed social fabric and culture of fear have led to children killing children. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last week and received a 10-minute standing ovation. Critics hailed the documentary--the first in competition at Cannes in 46 years--as a revelation destined to win awards as well as viewers.

Moore wasn't always so anti-gun. As a teen growing up in Flint, Michigan, in the early 1960s, he was a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and a prize-winning marksman. But when the United States got involved in the Vietnam War, Moore, then 19, gave up his membership. "I didn't want to be a part of that culture anymore," he says. Since then Moore has made social documentaries, including the award-winning 1989 "Roger & Me," which shows how, with a slew of factory closings and layoffs, General Motors turned Flint into a slum. He founded the Center for Alternative Media, which funds independent filmmakers and social- action groups. He hosts a satirical TV show, "The Awful Truth," and has written a best-selling political-humor book, "Stupid White Men," in which he stands up for the little guy.

Now the Columbine killings have given Moore his latest chance to look into society's darker corners. He didn't even try to find funding in the United States because he was convinced that the NRA--"the most powerful political lobby in America," he says--would fight the film all the way. Instead, Moore contacted his television producer, Salter Street Films in Canada, which immediately wrote the check. Moore began his odyssey at Columbine with haunting security-camera footage of the two armed teens roaming the ...