“Capitalism: A Love Story” is more like a persuasive essay than a two-hour film.
Michael Moore, the director and genius behind the documentary, explores the nature of criminal fraud, crooked corporations and castrated leadership that has tainted the image of the U.S. political culture.
The movie opens with the decline of the Roman Empire. According to the film, Rome fell because the Nobles oppressed the peasants in order to increase their own wealth and power. The introduction was a great pretense to the themes of the movie.
Moore picked several different issues to explore, including corporate greed, lack of regard for the poor, the quest for world domination by the rich and politicians on the payroll of less-than-legal corporations. He then presented those issues as premises for his argument: capitalism is a great evil that must be stopped.
In one part of the film, he listed a number of secretaries of state, starting with Ronald
Regan era and ending with Barack Obama. Moore drew connections between them and big banks to prove that rich and powerful corporations heavily persuade the U.S. government.
Although Moore’s documentary did shed light on the nation’s money issues, there were some problems in his approach.
If the ultra rich have not exposed one to the conspiracies of world domination, then the movie is hard to follow.
Moore tried to cram too many different themes and too much information into one film.
There is so much information and so many different scenarios that I often lost sight of the point he was trying to make.
But even with these problems, the movie had some gems and some unforgettably powerful moments.
The foreclosures were one of the most haunting yet impact moments of the film. Watching people lose their homes in real time proved the seriousness of the nation’s economic state and its negative affect on U.S. citizens.
Moore showed a family in Miami who was living in the back of a van after losing their home. In a coordinated effort with a local community group, the family moved back in their house and a standoff ensued between the community group and a representative from the bank. As they argued, one could see the pain in the people’s voices and how cold the bank was towards the homeless family.
This is when the film was at its best. Scenes like those attach a human face to the statistics we see on the major television networks.
Overall, “Capitalism: A Love Story,” is a good informative documentary with a wealth of information.
It is a must see for anyone wanting to better understand the world around them.
It is currently playing at the Governor Square Mall movie theater and AMC Tallahassee Mall 20.