| Description |
Erwin Wagenhofer's Let's Make Money (Austria, 2008) follows on the heels of his previous We Feed the World (Austria, 2005), a similar statement on how and under what circumstances comes the food to our plates. This time, in Let's Make Money, Wagenhofer hits even harder at the exploitation of Third World countries, at the global money market that corrupts the world monetary system, and at the crass side of neoliberalism that endorses political manipulation of free trade and free markets by transferring control of the economy from governments to private investors.
We see the fertile cotton fields of Burkino Faso turned into dusty deserts from misuse of crop rotation and sheer abuse of the land. A huge billboard over an Indian slum proclaims a dubious message to "join the millionaires club today." Housing complexes are built in Spain on picturesque cliff-sides with watered golf courses, although these apartments will never be used, while other communities in Spain are in dire need of water. An investment banker maintains his office in Singapore, where the rent is not only cheaper but international oversight is at a minimum. Thanks to deregulation, the tax haven in Jersey protects investment bankers, hedge-fund directors and private equity managers, while millions hunger in Asia, Africa and South America because they have no access to the natural goods at their doorstep.
An eminent tax expert explains why Swiss banks support "making money" over humanitarian principles, which could eventually lead to global environmental catastrophes. We see how the gold bricks arrive in Switzerland from mines in distant lands. Worse of all from a political standpoint, an internationally employed world-bank agent details how weak government leaders in the Third World are bribed, threatened and arbitrarily eliminated by "jackals" commissioned in assassination coups. Seen from this angle, these "hit-men" are synonymous with "economy killers," particularly when World Bank "development loans" drive poor countries deep into debt and thus make them vulnerable to political blackmailing.
Sundance Film Festival
Erwin Wagenhofer has crafted a momentous and chilling work of reportage in this documentary that maps and analyzes the contemporary global financial system.Shuttled around the world in private limousines and welcomed to corporate offices atop gleaming towers, we are treated to a litany of explanations by people close to the action, outlining how the financial world works and where it stands. It is unsurprising for many to learn that capitalism is ruthless. More alarming is the degree to which the financial (ad)ventures of an unaccountable and often-invisible few are facilitated by public policies and monies and arcane schemes that drain vast quantities of wealth away from civilizations into private hands. In settings ranging from India to Austria, from Burkina Faso to Washington, D.C., the legacies of decades of relaxed credit, deregulation of markets, and privatization of public facilities are illustrated by concrete examples so bizarre, outsized, and chilling that you'd expect to find them in a science-fiction movie rather than a documentary. The testimonies of economic theorists, proponents of offshore tax havens, and even one ""economic hit man"" combine to create a portrait of high stakes and shortsightedness, with war, mass migration, and ecological disaster as only a few of the downsides.Viewed in such volatile economic times as these, this prescient, shocking, and expertly crafted primer will spark many urgent debates.
Spoken Languages: German, Spanish, English, Tamil, French
Subtitles: English [SRT]
Rip Specs:
File Name .........................................: Let's Make Money (Erwin Wagenhofer, 2008).avi
File Size (in bytes) ..........................: 1,163,937,792 bytes
Runtime ............................................: 1:47:40
Video Codec ...................................: XviD ISO MPEG-4
Frame Size ......................................: 656x352 (AR: 1.864)
FPS ..................................................: 25.000
Video Bitrate ...................................: 1243 kb/s
Bits per Pixel ...................................: 0.215 bpp
B-VOP, N-VOP, QPel, GMC.............: [B-VOP], [], [], []
Audio Codec ...................................: 0x2000 (Dolby AC3) AC3
Sample Rate ....................................: 48000 Hz
Audio Bitrate ...................................: 192 kb/s [2 channel(s)] CBR
Interleave (in ms).............................: 40
Preload (in ms).................................: 480
Split/Aligned Across Interleaves.....: Split
No. of audio streams .......................: 1
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