Capitalism: A Love Story [Blu-ray] Review
Michael Moore has strong opinions. Michael Moore does much research to back up the very strong feelings he has. Michael Moore is very effective at showing to full effect the horrors he feels are taking place. But sadly he is also over the top and has become a voice in many people's opinion not worth listening to if you don't agree to some degree with this opinion. Many are saying here that CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY is not about parties Republican or Democrat but rather about capitalism, democracy and the awful state of the economy and how we got there.
He starts off showing happy living in the 50s where families had one income and all survived well. But as some got richer and those with less lived wanting more and greed and want got involved the whole dynamic changed. While watching this film it is easy to believe that everything shown is 100% fact and that it is the reasons given that are the only ones to explain society's breakdown. It is of course more complicated than that. The film is long at 2 hours and climaxes at the economic crisis at the end of Bush's preidency and the bailout of large corporations. This was one of the worst times in history and deserves such strong attention but when Moore says it didn't need to happen is this fact or his opinion. I am a Democrat and believe that there are definite moral, value and economic differences between the left and the right. But this film which claims to be bias free is in my opinion a strong letter of blame to the republicans and tries to show the democrats as the saviors. Angels sing and the earth parts when he shows Obama becoming president. And then when centering on a Democrat the tone changes.
I believe much of what Moore says is true but I do not believe answers are so easy to find. I certainly do not believe in stereotypes of republicans and democrats and that all republicans are to blame for all that is wrong with the country and the economy. Different agendas certainly are part of the two parties platforms but all democrats are not innocent victims. At the same time this documentary is hugely important to view. It raises life altering questions that concern us all and will keep you thinking for a long time. But you must remember the film is one man's opinion and the information he researched is used to stress the opinions he has. There is always another side to every story and sadly he leaves this part out. It is sad that his message is so anti right wing for I don't blame any republican for seeing this as just a smear campaign. But all should try to look beyond Moore's biases and see the true issues that affect the lives of us all.
Capitalism: A Love Story [Blu-ray] Feature
- ISBN13: 0013132136899
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Capitalism: A Love Story [Blu-ray] Overview
In presenting a “fireball of a movie that might change your life” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone), Moore “skewers both major political parties” (Claudia Puig, USA Today) for selling out the millions of people devastated by loss of homes and jobs to the interests of fat cat capitalists. Moore has “dug up some astonishing dirt” (Brian D. Johnson, Macleans), stories told in the faces of the foreclosed and evicted, in the food stamps received by hungry airline pilots, and in the courage of fired factory workers who refuse to go quietly. But more than a cry of despair, Moore’s film raises the possibility of hope. Capitalism: A Love Story is “The most American of films since the populist cinema of Frank Capra (It’s a Wonderful Life)” (Dan Siegel, Huffington Post ), “a movie that manages shrewdly, even brilliantly, to capitalize on the populist anger that has been sweeping the nation” (Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal ). Capitalism: A Love Story is loaded with over 90 minutes of hilarious extended and deleted scenes, as well as exciting and informative featurettes profiling Americans and American businesses.
Capitalism: A Love Story [Blu-ray] Specifications
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)
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