Bowling For Columbine (DVD 2003)

Funny, chilling and provocative, "Bowling for Columbine" is a documentary that works as a hugely entertaining movie, as well as a double-barreled blast at American gun culture and the media.

It starts with tubby, bear-faced American satirist Michael Moore opening a bank account and receiving a rifle as a free gift. Unbelievable, but not the only shocking element in this powerful exploration of violence in the USA.

Moore's inquiries into why America is such a violent society are sparked by the Columbine massacre - the 1999 high school shooting in which 13 people were killed by two malcontent teens who then took their own lives.

At first, it seems his answer will be obvious: readily available guns. But what appears to be a simplistic anti-gun polemic broadens in scope, to tar the media, racism, greed and US foreign policy.

Could it be, he argues, that the public is affected by a violent, interventionist state and the "if it bleeds, it leads" attitude of the news media, rather than video games and rock music?