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Capitalism: A Love Story
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Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
DVD
May 24, 2010 "Please retry" | — | 1 | $11.79 | $11.66 |
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Genre | Documentary |
Format | NTSC, Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen |
Contributor | Michael Moore, Moore,Michael |
Language | English |
Runtime | 2 hours |
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Product Description
Product Description
Explores root causes of global economic meltdown - "biggest robbery in history of this country - massive transfer of US taxpayer money to financial institutions".
Amazon.com
Michael Moore's didactic documentary style is actually a source of inspiration in Capitalism: A Love Story. This film, which explores the history of incongruence between American capitalism and democracy, is evidently a culmination of Moore's lifetime of research into this topic: he begins the movie by admitting his longstanding interest, rooted in childhood experiences in Flint, Michigan. As a result, the film displays an expertise that is less irritating than in Moore's earlier works, in which various loopholes can be found in one-sided presentations (see Bowling for Columbine). Here Moore employs his trademark tactics to make a satirical documentary that functions as a film-based, grassroots political strategy meant to provoke revolt. Consisting of patched-together clips from various eras and media outlets, the film weaves a narrative that underscores Moore's argument that while America is a success because of its democracy, it has been denigrated by capitalism, which he calls "a system of taking and giving, mostly taking." Capitalism: A Love Story is a patriotic call to arms that seeks to ignite rage in the viewer who is tired of political stupidity resulting in poverty and hardship among a dwindling middle class. It begins by tracing the growing gap between the rich and poor, from the Depression through the 1950s "free enterprise" boom. Using clips of FDR and Jimmy Carter warning against greed and inequality, Moore shows how gradually Americans came to accept Reaganomics, corporate corruption, then Bush-era swindling over time. This history serves as context for his explanation of the housing crisis, the collapse of banks, and Bush's covert, last-ditch efforts to pass sketchy bills on the cusp of Obama's election. Moore asks several lawyers, senators, and bankers, "What the **** happened?" and each offers intelligent assessments of situations that many American viewers still struggle to comprehend. Unfortunately, there are corny Moore moments throughout the film, such as when he takes an armored truck to various banking headquarters and harasses security guards to let him in to reclaim money stolen from the American public. Clips of Bush dancing juxtaposed with shots of people crying because they've lost their homes are melodramatic and only weaken Moore's arguments. Like Robin Hood, Moore seeks justice, but his greatest strength is as a translator between those speaking a complex political language and his viewers. Capitalism: A Love Story, while it does have a condescending tone throughout, does much to relay a complicated history that we all need to know for the sake of our own empowerment. --Trinie Dalton
Stills from Capitalism: A Love Story (Click for larger image)
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Product Dimensions : 0.56 x 5.38 x 7.28 inches; 2.4 Ounces
- Item model number : MFR013132136592#VG
- Director : Michael Moore
- Media Format : NTSC, Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen
- Run time : 2 hours
- Release date : June 29, 2010
- Actors : Moore,Michael
- Subtitles: : English, Spanish
- Language : Unqualified
- Studio : Lionsgate
- ASIN : B0030Y11XS
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #56,087 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #1,509 in Documentary (Movies & TV)
- Customer Reviews:
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Capitalism: A Love Story (Uk)
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Capitalism: A Love Story (Trailer 1)
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Capitalism: A Love Story (Vulture)
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Capitalism: A Love Story (Get Even TV Spot)
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Capitalism: A Love Story (Is Capitalism A Sin?)
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View the trailer <i>Capitalism: A Love Story</i>
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Interview with Michael Moore
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To begin with, under Reagan, they pushed the deregulation process. One of the best scenes of this movie is the chairman of Merrill Lynch saying to Reagan while he was actually delivering a speech : "you have to speed it up". It is one of those very rare instants when you actually see who is acting and who is in control ! After the Wall Street boys got their deregulation, they invented all kind of new ways to make money in their insane casino, one of them being called "derivatives". Moore asked some Wall Street gurus, including a Harvard professor, to have us explained what a "derivative" is, and neither of them succeeded. And that's exactly the point. Make it complicated, and project high returns, and no questions will be asked.
The banks made a home run. They got in trouble, but taxpayers were invited to pay for it. In 2008, Bush used the old trick of 9/11 again, and used *fear* to orchestrate what Moore calls a "financial coup d'état". Two months before election, we were told by the mass media that "the economy would collapse" if banks were not saved. That was a major fraud. Through a backdoor agreement involving the president and the president-to-be, an agreement was reached to inject $700 billion of tax money in the criminal banks.
In the meantime, people have lost their houses, and are still losing them, at a flabbergasting rate of every 7.5 seconds ! Moore makes an important point when showing how the middle class lived 30 to 40 years ago : one wage-earner was enough to support a whole family, own a house, have a car, take yearly vacations, have health care, could rely on a pension, etc. This model looks from a distant past, although it was part... of our childhood ! Wages have been in steady decline since the 80's, and pensions and health care have been privatized. In the process, the middle class is virtually ruined.
Citibank calls what's left of the US democracy a "plutonomy". Following their definition this is an economy "powered by and for the benefit of the wealthy". Following the same memo, the top 1 % of the American households has more wealth than the bottom 95% combined. Moore also highlights the fact that this memo considers "the most potent and mayor threat is societies demanding a more "equitable" share of the wealth".
If the economic system fails and if the democracy is not working at all, then maybe it's time to go back to the essence of honest business and real democracy. One of the solutions highlighted by Michael Moore are cooperatives, where the pay is fairly distributed, and decisions are made together. As complementary reading, I would recommend John Abram's Companies We Keep (Revised & Expanded): Employee Ownership and the Business of Community and Place .
The Extras on this DVD - with some interesting interviews - highlight another solution : CSA (community supported agriculture). The way out of insanity is definitively empowering local communities.
Top reviews from other countries
Moore employs all of his characteristic film-making traits to produce what is, in the view of the Huffington Post, "The most powerful and urgent political film of our time". Reviews agree that this documentary "is Moore's best yet"..., that he is at "the top of his game"..., that his work "is funny and powerful"..., and that Michael Moore "is a highly sophisticated film-maker". Having now seen most of Moore's film productions, I would not hesitate to agree with these opinions.
This film has much in common with Moore's first documentary "The Big One", in that it targets the rich "fat-cats" of capitalist USA and the fact that the policies of these owners of capital are responsible for loss of homes and jobs as they pursue their own greed and power. In his indomitable and intrepid way, Moore "digs the dirt" on capitalism's modus operandi as he interview those who have been evicted from their homes, factories and small businesses that have been foreclosed, professional people reliant on food stamps, as well as factory workers who refuse to go without a fight in the face of their job losses.
But Moore's humorous and populist-style film is not only, nor even mainly, focused on the negative - it contains a message of hope. Moore's compassion for ordinary people is as big as his physique.
Moore's positive message is focused on the strength and endeavour of the American worker, his or her ability to adapt and prosper, despite the ravages wrought by rampant and unsupervised capitalism. The documentary capitalizes on the "populist anger that has been sweeping the (American) nation." Indeed, Capitalism in the USA has met an awesome opponent in the person of Michael Moore.
All this happened whilst scores of Wall Street crooks and criminals became rich beyond belief thanks to the banking/financial deregulation they and their accomplices in Washington pushed through the White House particularly under Clinton's presidency. The same people who orchestrated and benefited from this financial looting have been appointed by Obama to resolve the problem they created!! So much for a President who promised change but is obviously in the service of his oligarch friends/supporters instead of serving the interests of the American people including the millions who trusted him! Except for Madoff no criminal prosecution has been initiated by Obama's Justice Department against any of the dishonest banksters and regulators who benefited from this latest financial bubble.
Particularly compelling are the refreshing testimonies (Special features of the DVD) of Harvard Prof. E.Warren (now deservedly elected US Senator), Prof. W. Black and Journalist/Writer C. Hedges 3 honourable and distinguished Americans who dare to condemn in no uncertain terms the arrogant and criminal nature of this parasitic type of capitalism which robs with impunity the wealth created by others .
Nur eines sind sie mit Sicherheit nicht: Dokumentationen.
Dazu sind sie viel zu offensichtlich im Schneideraum nachbearbeitet, gibt es zu oft Schuss/Gegenschuss-Einstellungen, und wie man z B im Film "Michael Moore hates America" sehen kann, reisst er gerne auch mal Aussagen aus dem Zusammenhang, und stellt sie in einen manipulativen Kontext.
Na und?
Das alles tut dem Vergnügen nicht den geringsten Abbruch!
Denn Michael Moore reizt das Recht auf freie Meinungsäußerung bis zum Limit aus,
nimmt dabei einen klaren Standpunkt ein und bietet somit eine unbestechliche Reibefläche.
Man kann ganz oder teilweise für oder gegen ihn sein, nur gleichgültig bleibt man nicht.
So auch in "Kapitalismus - eine Liebesgeschichte".
Hier zeigt er Hinter- und Abgründe der US-Finanz- und Wirtschaftspolitik der Bush-Jahre,
und gewährt nachträglich Einblick in die Ursachen der Finanzkrise.
Wer also wissen will, aus welchem Geist die Verwerfungen an den Kapitalmärkten stammen,
sollte sich diesen Film anschauen.
Und wer den Hype um Obama verstehen will, ebenfalls.
Außerdem erwähnenswert:
Moore haut nicht nur drauf. Er führt auch positive Beispiele an, wie man z. B. nicht nur der Ideologie des "Profits um jeden Preis" Widerstand leisten, sondern auch mit alternativen Unternehmensstrategien ebenfalls erfolgreich wirtschaften kann.
Rundum sehenswert, auch und gerade, wenn man anderer Meinung ist.