Lavish waterfalls, rich and life-invigorating weather tending to but also battering the landscape, mountains blanketed in snow, untouched by man. This is how Inside Job begins. Although this tribute to the environment is setting the scene of the cataclysmic Icelandic financial crisis which began in 2008, it also serves another, less surface-level purpose. It allows a stark contrast to be put in place which will make you question the futility of how complicated us humans have made things for ourselves, and how those at the top have managed to change the rules of the game to benefit themselves. The following documentation of events that are so unjust and incomprehensibly selfish can all be referred back to this opening scene, which boasts the magnitude of something that we can, and should all appreciate universally, which is the natural world. Raging waterfalls and magnificent, rocky landscapes act as a reminder of what fuels the planet and consequently our lives. Tragically, Inside Job reveals how this magnificent, untouched landscape has been neglected exploited by wealthy people for the sake of getting wealthier, leaving a trail of irreversible damage in their wake.
Films that I refer to/potentially spoil in this article:
– Inside Job (dir. Charles Ferguson, 2010)
– The Big Short (dir. Adam McKay, 2015)
Before the film even begins, you’re well aware that Inside Job has a clear agenda as the film’s title bears similarities to heist or crime films. Director Charles Ferguson pushes to remind you of this outlook throughout the film with thanks to his excellently unrestrained yet sharply focused interviewing abilities. On several occasions, Ferguson throws answers right back at his interviewees/victims, the majority of whom are high-profile players in business, economics, finance, fraud, politics etc. He’s like if the outgoing and occasionally overbearing Michael Moore were to be blended with the silently exploitative expert journalist Louis Theroux. When Ferguson simply tells someone that their answer isn’t correct or is a lie, rarely is this met with rage or walk-outs. Instead, his subjects maintain an unusual sense of face, as though rehearsed, familiar and strangely used to allegations, an unnerving collective and calm as though they still have the upper ground or a hidden trick up their sleeve. Even if you’re lost amongst the unfamiliar plethora of business terms among an array of suited, suspicious businessmen, Inside Job is still enjoyable as a study of character, the assessment of the types of people that frequent the stories behind the headlines of the financial news.
The film is broken up into five parts, each assessing the cause, actions, implications and future of the world since the financial crisis of the late 2000s. For the most part, it’s easy enough to follow. If you’ve ever read Brett Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, the constant influx of new, important and wealthy characters begin to feign similarities. If you’re like me and possess next-to-no knowledge regarding the 2008 financial crisis before watching this film, it is a little difficult to keep up with at times. Just when you think you’ve finally grasped a firm grip on how a particular systematic financial process works, the whole process is undone immediately as narrator Matt Damon explains how the system crashed or was exploited. With that being said, however, Inside Job is an extremely compelling if devastating narrative to immerse yourself in. Belonging to the audience of people who would ideally have the film’s content explained to them at the most layman level possible, I was relieved that not everything requires this level of specialist explanation.
Image Credit: Zero Anthropology
Whether you understand it all or not, Inside Job radiates languages which are universally spoken regarding humanity and morality. In Parts IV and V, a visit to Tent City reiterates this. Unfortunately now one of many, Tent City is exactly what it sounds like. Based in Florida, hundreds of tents are inhabited by those affected by the crash who lost their homes, and all of those are in search of work opportunities that seldom present themselves. The visit here is a quintessential necessity for Inside Job, as, without it, the film would be a high-stakes thriller about the elites to whom financial loss is scarcely an effective punishment; reserves of millions and private homes to escape to and retire are open and welcome backup plans. What about the truck drivers and the Average Joe’s? A pop-up tent in Tampa. It’s a short sequence reminiscent of one of the many photograph-montage scenes in The Big Short, a factual dramatization of the same events. Photographs of offices being cleared, tents being pitched; it’s a scathing and searing reminder of the looming, true, modern-day fable, that despite how comfortable you may be, you’re only two or three paychecks from homelessness.
Fittingly, Part V is entitled Where Are We Now, and frankly, the future is still bleak. Despite the welcome arrival of President Obama forcing Bush out of the presidential office, culprits who managed to exploit the uneducated are still at large. Ferguson makes the essential effort to meet those affected by what really should be considered a fraudulent crime in the court of law, but due to a legal system as convoluted as the entangled and twisted taxation, mortgage, and various housing schemes that have scammed innocent people, is all okay on paper. It’s these “ordinary people” that bring the message back home. How and why did it get like this? Excuses have been justified and analysed for so long, to the extent where the simple answer appears blurred and uncertain. Wall Street brokers claiming expenses on prostitutes and drugs under the likes of essential office equipment and staff bonuses is more than just a misuse or mishandling of power, it’s an embarrassment, which, to retail, warehouse and office workers like you and I, would no doubt result in immediate dismissal, long-term consequences and most probably some decent amount of public humiliation. Their ability to evade consequence is not only inherently unjust and strange but a reflection of our tolerant society and flawed legal and financial system, which shares an unnecessarily exclusive, boundary-crossing relationship.
As you can probably tell, Inside Job is not a light documentary. Its depiction of how privilege pays privilege is maddening and upsetting, and also, to refer back to the opening sequence depicting the beauty of the natural world, a journey that feels trivial and convoluted. All of this, however, is indicative of a wonderful documentary. It’s not a case of being p***ed off at a piece of art that you don’t understand and being told “that’s why it’s great, because it’s making you feel something”, it’s a case of not understanding the core systematic and logistical fundamentals but still having a clear idea of how it’s affecting those not directly or willingly involved. Inside Job is a fantastic if heavy documentary, especially to people like me who will inevitably struggle to process a portion of what’s being said. If economic news is your thing, however, Inside Job is a must-watch, even a decade after its release.
Loved:
– Engaging and urgent (even if you’re like me and unable to follow all the time!)
– A confident display of fantastic investigative journalism skills
Didn’t Love so much:
– A little more thorough explanation to some of the more complex terms would’ve been welcome
filmmish 