Michael Moore is back with the documentary film "Where to Invade Next" (2015), his first in six years. Can't wait to see this!

Taken from the review by Jon Schwarz, who worked for Moore for a number of years:

About halfway through Where to Invade Next, Moore visits an island prison in Norway that houses inmates who've committed violent crimes but are being rewarded for good behavior. It looks less like Oz and more like a frugal resort, with prisoners in regular clothes doing wheelies on bikes, fishing, and sunbathing.

In the prison's kitchen, Moore talks to Trond, a convicted murderer with a huge tattoo on his face. Looking past him, Moore says: "Uh, I can't help but notice that behind you are a whole bunch of very sharp knives." And in fact there are a dozen of them, including a gigantic cleaver.

There also appear to be zero guards. Trond explains how many guards are at the prison on weekends: four. That's for a prison population of 115. Plus, he says, the guards generally all stay in another building, leaving the prisoners to supervise themselves.

For most Americans, including me, this looks completely insane. But the prison warden, sitting at a park bench with birds chirping in the background, explains: "I don't understand why you think this is a strange idea. … The main idea is just to take away their freedom. That's the only punishment we are giving them. We are trying to help them back to society."

Tip: The documentary series "The Norden" gives you a good understanding of police and prison work in the Nordic countries.

Via Boing Boing.