Inside Job

March 13, 2011

I only knew about this movie because it won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature over the presumed favorite, "Exit Through the Gift Shop." "Inside Job" is definitely longer, more methodical and less melodramatic than "Exit." It dealt with a more serious and internationally significant subject matter, the global financial crisis. Yes, this film was really better than "Exit," and fully deserves its Oscar. (Although "Exit" undoubtedly did have more sense of humor.)

The film starts from how the crisis began in the Reagan years, to the building up and eventual bursting of the financial "bubble" of the late 2000s. This was because of governmental deregulation of financial institutions that involved banks, ratings companies and insurance corporations. This led to the executives of these companies greatly enriching themselves to the tragic detriment of the little people who had entrusted them with their hard-earned money. We see how academics from no less than Harvard and Columbia are hired by these same companies as consultants. And we also see that despite the promises of change by Pres. Barack Obama, the same people who rode on the bubble are the same people heading the vital finance positions in the current government.

Before I watched this film, I did not really know anything about the global financial crisis other than cursory information about the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and AIG. I was not really sure what kind of financial companies they were. This film presents the details in easy to understand graphics and narration (surprisingly by Matt Damon!) I never thought I could grasp these complex economic concepts, but this film succeeds to make me understand how that huge financial meltdown occurred. It is also a call for justice on behalf of the victims, as the perpetrators, instead of being convicted, are still very much in the game. This is a very informative and very important film. The people of the USA and the world need to know this.