The incredible feat Inside Job accomplishes, is that it makes the 2008 financial collapse understandable - and then uses that understanding to make you angry. The moments of guilty self-reflection the culprits of the collapse (mostly college professors) demonstrate when confronted with the intentions and consequences of their own greedy economical theories, are some of the brightest moments ever documented on film. The question still remains: if the system is legally corrupt, why blame the people who benefit from it? And why shouldn't we expect this calamity to happen again?
Mo says: 
I have to confess ,the movie was complicated to understand for me and I didn’t get most of the points precisely. I think the major reason is we just heard about the crisis from remote and didn’t touch it as well as U.S residents did(and other relevant countries of course), and the other reason is economical , financial -management in such level is hard to understand let alone to judge and resulting , but I’m happy to get a chance to see a comprehensive research for rooting this big collapse in such powerful financial industry and I believe it was really worth watching for. Its widespread effects on all aspect of society(even prostitution) and cooperation of key agents for interview and giving information in front of camera are point of attraction for me.Your question are thoughtful , I don’t know the answers but as movie said all responsible agents are still working and in power because country needs them and what they do are hard understand for ordinary people ,however, they promised that it will never happen again !future will tell...
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you remember Charles Ferguson's speech when he accepted the Best Documentary Oscar for this film:
ReplyDelete"Forgive me, I must start by pointing out that three years after our horrific financial crisis caused by financial fraud, not a single financial executive has gone to jail, and that's wrong."
Depressing.
I also felt angry when I saw this documentary, but I'm glad I also saw Too Big to Fail, a dramatized version of the 2008 financial crisis which presents the other side of the story. It goes to show that if the treasury had not come up with the $700 billion TARP, things could have been worse. Much worse. And as opposed to Margin Call, the characters in Too Big to Fail are names we are probably all familiar with: Paulson, Geithner, Bernanke, ... . If you've seen Inside Job and Margin Call, I strongly recommend Too Big to Fail.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation. The presence of the ultra-conservative James Woods in the movie makes me a little hesitant about whether this is pro-Republican propaganda, but I can't make that judgment without having seen the movie. I've placed it in my Netflix queue; it'll be out in June.
ReplyDeleteIn fact there are several big-name actors who I suppose cover the entire political spectrum. And several characters are still in the current administration (like Geithner and Bernanke). So I don't think there is a strong political bias, or at least I did not see it. I eagerly look forward to reading what you think about it.
ReplyDeleteThank you. My honor.
ReplyDelete