WASHINGTON, June 26: Crowds in the US capital flocked on Friday to the opening of Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11" - some to get fired up about ousting President George Bush in the Nov 2 election, others to see what the controversy is all about.

Nurse Alexandra Moss, 31, made a point of seeing the vehemently anti-Bush documentary as a contribution to help defeat the Republican president in November. She even brought her mother to the film. "I want to see Bush out of office," she said.

Lynda Bond, 47, a fervent Republican whose husband is an elected official, came mainly to confirm that the incendiary movie was nothing but a string of lies.

"I wanted to see it to understand what everyone was talking about," Bond said. "It is extremely misleading. I bought a ticket for another movie and then came to see this one. I wouldn't give Michael Moore my money."

Impatient viewers in Washington, the most politicized city in the United States, invaded cinemas as the movie opened on Friday. At a 14-screen multiplex theatre in Georgetown, in the heart of the US capital, "Fahrenheit 9/11" was being shown on three screens.

The movie begins with the Nov 2000 US presidential election. For a few minutes Democrat Al Gore appears to be winning . . . but he then concedes victory to Republican Bush. The camera pauses on Mr Bush, who laughs nervously. The audience howls with laughter.

Then there is footage of President Bush on vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Critics say that he is spending too much time away from the White House. "I'm working on some things," Bush awkwardly tells television news reporters, stumbling on his words three times. Another burst of laughter follows.

Michael Moore's humour doesn't always hit the mark, and his line of reasoning at times seems hollow, even a touch demagogic. But the audience loves it.

When the movie turns to the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, the screen goes dark, with the sound effects - the explosions, the cries of anguish, the chaos - telling the story.

The film then moves to Iraq, where a woman is seen pleading to God after her uncle's home is destroyed in a US bombing. "What have they done?" she wails.

In another moving scene, the mother of a US soldier killed in Iraq breaks down in sobs as she talks about her son's death and her doubts about the reasons for invading Iraq. The crowd breaks out in applause as the movie ends.

Nadia MacFarlane, 31, a pre-medical student at Howard University, thought the movie was "a good reinforcement that you're not crazy, that (what I think), it's true", she said.

Robin Presta, 25, who works for a non-profit organization, wiped her eyes with a tissue throughout the film. "I was definitely moved," she said.

David and Sharon, a couple in their late 40s who declined to give their names because of their jobs - he works for the government, she for a law firm - said that the sell-out crowd shows "how people are starving to see" the film.

The Bush administration "has attempted to crush any kind of opposition," David said. "Everyone in the world has figured the madness here in Washington, except for the Americans. I'm glad somebody made a film like this.""Fahrenheit 9/11" appeared in 868 US theatres, a record for a documentary.

It is unclear what effect, if any, the movie will have on the outcome of the November election.

Todd Hallauer, 28, a self-confessed political liberal who works for the Merrill Lynch accounting firm, said he thought the timing of Moore's film "is great, with the election coming up."

But he observed: "There probably aren't a lot of swing voters here." -AFP