Michael Moore Film Review Capitalism a Love Story Worksheet

2009 documentary film by Michael Moore

Capitalism: A Love Story
Theatrical release poster
Directed past	Michael Moore
Written by	Michael Moore
Produced by	Anne Moore Michael Moore
Starring	Michael Moore
Narrated by	Michael Moore
Cinematography	Daniel Marracino Jayme Roy
Edited by	Jessica Brunetto Alex Meiller Tanya Meiller Conor O'Neill Pablo Proenza T. Woody Richman John Walter
Music by	Jeff Gibbs
Production companies	Dog Eat Dog Films The Weinstein Visitor
Distributed by	Overture Films (N America) Paramount Vantage (International)[1]
Release dates	September 6, 2009 (2009-09-06) (VIFF) Oct 2, 2009 (2009-ten-02) (United states)
Running time	127 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Languages	English Russian Spanish
Budget	$twenty meg
Box function	$17.4 meg[3]

Capitalism: A Love Story is a 2009 American documentary motion picture directed, written by, and starring Michael Moore. The flick centers on the late-2000s fiscal crunch and the recovery stimulus, while putting frontward an indictment of the then-current economic guild in the United States and of unfettered capitalism in full general. Topics covered include Wall Street's "casino mentality", for-profit prisons, Goldman Sachs' influence in Washington, D.C., the poverty-level wages of many workers, the big wave of home foreclosures, corporate-endemic life insurance, and the consequences of "runaway greed".^[4] The picture show as well features a religious component in which Moore examines whether or not capitalism is a sin and whether Jesus would exist a backer;^[5] this component highlights Moore'due south belief that evangelical conservatives contradict themselves past supporting free market ideals while professing to be Christians.

The motion-picture show was widely released to the public in the U.s. and Canada on October 2, 2009. Reviews were generally positive. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 9, 2010.

Synopsis [edit]

Moore begins by discussing what capitalism and "gratis enterprise" mean. Looking dorsum on his happy and prosperous early life, Moore asserts that "if this was capitalism, I loved information technology... and so did everyone else". Moore states that in the 1950s, the top tax charge per unit was 90% (in his view, this taxation rate enabled the U.S. to build dams, bridges, schools and hospitals), near families but had one working parent, union families had costless healthcare, college tuition was free, well-nigh people had niggling personal debt and pensions were guaranteed. This prosperity was driven past the manufacturing industry, which benefited from post-war W Germany and Nippon struggling to recover. He describes President Jimmy Carter's Crunch of Conviction oral communication every bit a turning point that led to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980; Moore calls Reagan a "spokesmodel" for banks and corporations who wanted to remake America to serve their interests.

Moore looks dorsum on his first picture show, Roger & Me, about the regional economic touch of General Motors CEO Roger Smith's determination to close several auto plants in his hometown of Flint, Michigan despite big profits. He notes that past the time of the job cuts in Flintstone, Germany and Japan had rebuilt their automotive industries and were producing meliorate, safer, cleaner, more than reliable cars.^{[ description needed ]} Moore then returns to the nowadays, showing President George Due west. Bush-league enjoying his final twelvemonth in office as companies announce massive layoffs and the economy starts to plummet.

After seeing the congressional testimony of pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (who reported that over the course of his career, his salary had been cut by 40 per centum and his alimony, similar most airline pensions, was terminated and replaced past a "PBGC" guarantee worth only pennies on the dollar),^[vi] Moore notes that pilots beingness overworked and underpaid did non enter into the media word post-obit the crash of Colgan Air Flying 3407. He asserts that capitalism allows people to become abroad with annihilation, including making a profit from someone'south death. He speaks to the family of a human who worked for Amegy Bank of Texas, which had secretly taken out a life insurance policy on the homo with itself as the beneficiary and had then accidentally informed his widow that the bank was receiving a $1.5m payout due to his death of cancer. Moore wonders how the bank'southward actions can be legal when he himself is prohibited from taking out abode insurance on someone else's belongings.

Moore speaks to Catholic priests and Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, who believes that commercialism is evil and contrary to the teachings of Jesus and the Bible. Moore examines the claim that the tenets of capitalism are compatible with Christianity, arguing that the rich ignore faith when it comes to the poor, ill and disadvantaged. He points to Citigroup'south leaked "plutonomy memo", which said that America and other countries were not democracies any more, just were ruled by the wealthy.

Moore reports on the Occupy motility and the 2008 presidential entrada of Autonomous Senator Barack Obama, who was demonized equally a "socialist". He notes that the smears against Obama did not work, as back up for him increased and people become curious about what socialism actually meant. He profiles Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans, who orders an end to foreclosures; the Miami Low Income Families Fighting Together, who re-occupy foreclosed homes; and workers at Republic Windows and Doors, who organized a sit down-down strike after being fired without severance, vacation time, or wellness intendance benefits later on the visitor was taken over by Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

The film ends with Moore marking Wall Street off as a law-breaking scene, opining that American people live in the richest state on Earth and deserve decent jobs, healthcare, good educations and homes of their own. Moore adds that it is a crime that Americans do not have these things and never will take them as long every bit the evil of commercialism continues to enrich the few at the expense of the many. He calls for commercialism to be eliminated and replaced with something proficient for all people: Democracy. Moore concludes that he cannot accomplish this goal this alone and appeals for help from the viewer, ending the motion picture. He quotes Don Regan'south line to Ronald Reagan, "... and please, speed it up".

Participants [edit]

• William One thousand. Black, attorney, academic, writer and former bank regulator
• Elijah Cummings, U.South. Representative (D-Doc)
• Warren Evans, Wayne Canton Sheriff
• Thomas Gumbleton, retired Roman Cosmic auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit
• Baron Hill, U.S. Representative (D-IN)
• Marcy Kaptur, U.S. Representative (D-OH)
• Stephen Moore, economic writer and policy analyst (no relation to Michael Moore)
• Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator (I-VT)
• Wallace Shawn, player
• Elizabeth Warren, U.Due south. Senator (D-MA), Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel and bankruptcy law scholar at Harvard Law School

Production [edit]

During the Cannes Picture show Festival in 2008, Overture Films and Paramount Vantage announced an upcoming project by director Michael Moore, though at the time they were vague about the projection's theme. Originally thought to be a follow-upward to the 2004 film Fahrenheit 9/11, it was revealed that Moore'south film was to be a documentary about the financial crunch of 2007–2010. In February 2009, he issued an appeal to people who worked for Wall Street or in the financial industry to share firsthand information, requesting, "Be a hero and help me expose the biggest swindle in American history."^[vii]

Prior to the moving-picture show'south release, Moore partnered with spider web development company Concentric Sky to develop a companion website for the film.^[8]

Footage of President Franklin D. Roosevelt detailing his proposed Second Bill of Rights was believed to be lost. Roosevelt, who had recently recovered from the flu, presented his Jan 1944 Land of the Union address to the public on radio, as a fireside chat from the White House. He asked that newsreel cameras movie the final portion of the address, concerning the Second Bill of Rights. This footage was believed lost until it was uncovered in 2008 in South Carolina past Michael Moore while researching for the film.^[9] The footage shows Roosevelt'southward Second Neb of Rights address in its entirety, too equally a shot of the 8 rights printed on a canvass of paper.^{[10] [11]}

Release [edit]

Theatrical run [edit]

Commercialism: A Love Story premiered at the 66th Venice International Moving picture Festival on September vi, 2009.^[12] The moving-picture show also screened at the Toronto International Picture Festival on September 13 and at the New York Film Festival on September 21. On September 23, the film had a express release at two theaters in New York City and two theaters in Los Angeles,^[13] grossing $37,832 in its beginning day for a $ix,458 per theater average.^[14] The theater average was considered strong, though it did not shell the tape opening of Moore'due south Fahrenheit ix/11, which grossed $83,922 at ii theaters in ane day.^[13] Over the weekend of September 25, Capitalism grossed $231,964 in the four theaters.^[15]

The picture had a wide release in 995 theaters in the United States and Canada on Oct two, 2009,^[3] well-nigh a year subsequently the enacting of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Deed of 2008, which approved a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.^[7] The picture opened in eighth place at the box office on the first weekend of its wide release, grossing $iv,447,378.^[16] The final domestic full was $14,363,397,^[3] making it the 16th highest grossing documentary in history (2014).^[17]

Disquisitional reception [edit]

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approving rating of 75% based on 185 reviews, with an average score of 6.71 out of 10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "Beloved him or hate him, Capitalism captures Michael Moore in his muckraking element -- with all the Moore-centric showmanship that entails."^[xviii] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted boilerplate rating out of 100 to mainstream critics' reviews, reported an average score of 61 out of 100 based on 35 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[19]

Deborah Immature, writing for the trade paper The Hollywood Reporter, wrote of Capitalism: A Love Story, "Although it's less focused than Sicko or Fahrenheit 9/11... considering its subject is more than abstract, this is a typical Moore oeuvre: funny, often over the summit and of dubious documentation, but with strongly made points that leave viewers much to ponder and argue after they walk out of the theater." Young best-selling Moore'due south simplification of the topic and added, "Just here his talent is evident in creating two hours of engrossing cinema by contrasting a fast-moving montage of '50s archive images extolling gratuitous enterprise with the economic disaster of the present." The critic noted whom the documentary targeted: "Though it blames all political parties, including the Democrats, for caving in with the bailout, the moving-picture show is careful to spare President Barack Obama, who remains a symbol of promise for justice."^[xx]

Leslie Felperin of the trade paper Variety wrote, "Pic's target is less capitalism qua commercialism than the cyberbanking industry, which Moore skewers ruthlessly, explaining final year'south economic meltdown in terms a sixth-grader could empathise. That said, in that location's still plenty here to badger correct-wingers, equally well as those who, yet much they agree with Moore'southward politics, just tin't stomach his oversimplification, on-the-nose sentimentality and goofball japery." Felperin said that the documentary was similarly structured to Moore'southward previous documentaries, "Capitalism skips around considerably, laying downwardly a mix of reportage, interviews and polemic." Felperin observed Moore's prominent function in his ain documentary, assertive it to exist justified with relevance to crises in the automobile industry that Moore's family personally encountered. The critic complained that Moore strove "to manipulate viewers' emotions with shots of crying children and tearjerking musical choices", assertive that the documentary worked improve when the managing director permit the topic unfold through diverse accounts.^[21]

Upon the film'due south February 2010 Britain release, The Times said the flick "showcases Moore at his undeniably powerful all-time and his exploitative, manipulative worst":^[22]

The movie is brilliantly researched, both with regard to the labyrinthine web of connections betwixt the world of finance and the corridors of power and the wittily used annal footage. Interviews with Senate insiders and financial experts are informative, and at that place'south an amusing sequence in which he quizzes a option of priests and bishops who opine that capitalism is "evil" and was non, in fact, the preferred economical model of Our Lord. Then Moore goes and spoils it all past hauling out his trusty bullhorn for a series of lame stunts. Like the conceited clown prince of agitprop, Moore hectors Wall Street doormen and security guards, while the company bosses remain in their fortress made of money, blissfully unaware of the fat man making a scene on the street far below....But for all his inexpensive tactics, Moore mounts a persuasive example that something is rotten in the current economical organization.

Topical accuracy [edit]

The Associated Press's national business organization columnist Rachel Brook reviewed the accuracy of 3 points made in Capitalism:

1. Three months later a scene in which Moore approaches Goldman Sachs headquarters to repossess taxpayers' funds, the banking company was one of the ten that repaid part of the $68 billion received from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Moore responded to the action: "We're not talking about the majority of people who took the coin ... non fifty-fifty 10 pct of the $700 billion has been returned."^[23]
2. Moore criticizes Wal-Mart for "expressionless peasant" policies, all 350,000 of which were cancelled in 2000. Withal, Moore notes that the termination of the policies was covered in the presentation of facts and quotes in the endmost credits.^[23]
3. The documentary criticizes Senator Christopher Dodd and other regime officials for benefiting from exclusive financial programs; Moore lambasts Dodd in particular for predatory lending equally chairman of the Senate Banking Commission. The AP reported that the interest rates and fees involved were norms for the industry, and that the Senate'southward Select Commission on Ideals cleared Dodd and Kent Conrad of getting special treatments, only it cautioned the senators to exercise "more vigilance" with such deals.^[23]

The Association of Advanced Life Underwriting issued a argument that Moore "mischaracterized" Corporate Endemic Life Insurance (COLI), stating that the issues were addressed by Congress in the 1990s and again in 2006. The AALU further states that corporate-endemic life insurance is taken out only on highly compensated employees, but with their noesis and consent and that COLI finances employee benefits and protects jobs and that employees pay zip for COLI just receive substantial benefits.^[24]

Upon the movie's February 2010 theatrical release in the Uk, pic critic Mark Kermode, appearing on The Culture Show, asked the BBC's business organization editor Robert Peston whether Moore'south "crusading" had been based on a misrepresentation of American capitalism.

Religious discipline affair [edit]

Religion expert Anthony Stevens-Arroyo stated that the film should exist considered "a special kind of Catholic accomplishment" and asked whether Michael Moore should be named "Catholic of the Year" for raising the serious issues in the context of Catholic social pedagogy, and for presenting "Catholic currents of social justice" in the film.^[25]

Awards and honors [edit]

At the Venice Film Festival, Moore won the "Leoncino d'Oro" ("Petty Golden King of beasts") honor for his documentary, and he also received the festival'south Open Prize.^[26] The documentary was also nominated for the festival's Golden Lion award,^[27] only lost to Lebanon.^[28] Moore also received a nomination for Best Documentary Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America.^[29] At the 15th Critics' Choice Awards, it received a nomination for All-time Documentary Feature.^[30]

See too [edit]

• Late-2000s financial crisis
• Emergency Economical Stabilization Act of 2008
• Troubled Asset Relief Programme
• Wall Street reform
• Eye of a needle
• Christian views on poverty and wealth
• List of films nigh socialism

Related films

• Roger & Me
• The Corporation
• Within Job
• I.O.The statesA.
• Margin Call
• Too Large to Neglect
• The Big Brusk

References [edit]

1. ^ Kay, Jeremy (May 13, 2008). "Paramount Vantage, Overture to co-finance, distribute Moore's next". Screen International . Retrieved November 4, 2021.
2. ^ "Capitalism: A LOVE STORY (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. October thirteen, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Commercialism: A Beloved Story (2009)". Box Function Mojo . Retrieved December 29, 2010.
4. ^ Huffington, Arianna (September 21, 2009). "Barack Obama Must See Michael Moore'due south New Movie (and And then Must Yous)!". The Huffington Post . Retrieved May 3, 2010.
5. ^ Moore, Michael (October 4, 2009). "For Those of You on Your Way to Church This Morn ..." The Huffington Post . Retrieved May 3, 2010.
6. ^ US Airways Flying 1549 Accident, Hearing. February 24, 2009. U.S. Business firm, Subcommittee on Aviation, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Washington: Regime Printing Office, 2009.
7. ^ ^{a b} Dave McNary (July 8, 2009). "Michael Moore unveils championship of new medico". Diversity . Retrieved September 22, 2009.
8. ^ "Web firm lands large contract". The Register-Guard. October ten, 2009.
9. ^ "The Best Scenes From Michael Moore's New Movie". The Daily Beast. September 22, 2009. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
10. ^ Capitalism: A Love Story at IMDb (starting approximately at time code 1:55:00)
11. ^ Moore, Michael; et al. (2010). Capitalism: A Dear Story (DVD). Traverse City, MI: Front Street Productions, LLC. OCLC 443524847. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
12. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (September one, 2009). "Stars to shine on Lido". Variety . Retrieved September 22, 2009.
13. ^ ^{a b} Fritz, Ben (September 24, 2009). "Moore's 'Capitalism' off to profitable outset". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved September 24, 2009.
14. ^ "Capitalism: A Honey Story (2009) – Daily Box Function Results". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved Oct ii, 2009.
15. ^ "Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) – Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved October two, 2009.
16. ^ "Weekend Box Part Results for October 2–four, 2009". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved Oct 7, 2009.
17. ^ "Documentary Movies at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved Dec 26, 2013.
18. ^ "Commercialism: A Honey Story (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
19. ^ "Capitalism: A Love Story Review". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved Oct 23, 2019.
20. ^ Young, Deborah (September half dozen, 2009). "Capitalism: A Dearest Story — Movie Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
21. ^ Felperin, Leslie (September 5, 2009). "Capitalism: A Love Story". Variety. Fourth dimension. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
22. ^ Ide, Wendy (February 26, 2010). "Capitalism: A Love Story". The Times. Times Newspapers. Retrieved Feb 27, 2010.
23. ^ ^{a b c} Beck, Rachel (September 24, 2009). "Fact-checking Moore's 'Capitalism'". CBS News. Associated Printing. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
24. ^ [1] Archived July 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
25. ^ Washington Post, October 28, 2009, "Cosmic America: Michael Moore: Catholic of the year?" [2]
26. ^ "La Biennale di Venezia - The 66th Festival Collateral Awards". labiennale.org. September 12, 2009. Archived from the original on September xv, 2009. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
27. ^ O'Neil, Tom (July 30, 2009). "Venice Film Festival unveils Golden Lion lineup led by Michael Moore". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved September 23, 2009.
28. ^ "Peak Venice award for Israeli movie". news.bbc.co.britain. BBC. September 12, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
29. ^ "2010 Writers Gild Award Winners". TV Source Mag. February 21, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
30. ^ "15th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards (2010) – Best Flick: The Hurt Locker". Critics Selection. November 21, 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2021.

External links [edit]

• Official website
• Capitalism: A Love Story at IMDb
• Capitalism: A Love Story at Box Office Mojo
• Capitalism: A Dearest Story at Rotten Tomatoes
• Capitalism: A Love Story at Metacritic
• Michael Moore (October 22, 2009). "Post-Film Activeness Programme: 15 Things Every American Tin can Exercise Right Now". The Huffington Post.
• Chris McGreal (Jan 30, 2010). "Commercialism is evil … you take to eliminate it". The Guardian. London. An in-depth review and assay from the Guardian.

Multimedia

• In The Center Band: Michael Moore vs Capitalism - audio report by NPR
• Michael Moore: "Capitalism Has Failed" - interviewed by CNN's Larry King Live is here
• Capitalism's Enemy, Michael Moore - video study past The Colbert Written report
• Naomi Klein in Conversation With Michael Moore - sound study past The Nation
• Michael Moore Examines Today's Economic State - video report by the Tavis Smiley Prove
• Moore Goes to the Source in "Capitalism: A Beloved Story" - a 45-minute video study by Republic Now!, September 24, 2008

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism:_A_Love_Story

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