Inside Job
‘Finance took over, and more or less
wrecked the place.’
- Gyfli Zoega, Professor of Economics at
the University of Iceland
Winner of this year’s Academy Award for
Best Documentary Feature, Inside Job chronicles the origins and
repercussions of the 2007-2010 global financial crisis, which through a
combination of systemic corruption, deregulation and mismanagement
within the banking industry cost tens of millions of people worldwide
their jobs, live savings and even their homes.
The story of how it all went wrong is split
into five chapters – How We Got Here, The Bubble (2001-2007), The
Crisis, Accountability and Where We Are Now – and begins in Iceland over
a decade ago. That country had, until 2000, experienced such a golden
period of economic growth as was almost without parallel in history.
That is, until country’s banks become privatised and their investment
and borrowing activities became largely deregulated. With losses
eventually exceeding $100 billion (against a gross domestic product of
$13 billion), housing prices having more than doubled and bonuses paid
to industry’s executives frequently in the tens of millions of dollars,
Iceland’s three largest banks finally went under. Unemployment tripled
and many people lost everything they owned.
Over the next few years the exact same
pattern played out in the United States, where the financial sector was
and is dominated by a few gigantic firms such as Merrill Lynch, Goldman
Sachs, Citibank and AIG. Inside Job paints the GFC as entirely
avoidable, the consequence of several decades of deregulation and
corruption within the banking industry. And that’s where it starts to
get complicated, and a crooked and thorny tale involving subprime loans,
derivatives, sham credit ratings, onselling of mortgages, predatory
lending and intentional deceit on the part of the banks begins.
This is heady stuff for those with a
minimal (or in my case non-existent) knowledge of economics and the
global financial markets, but thankfully filmmaker Charles H. Ferguson
has factored this into his presentation, seamlessly incorporating
numerous animated graphs and diagrams in an attempt to make the relevant
changes in policy and banking practises comprehensible and relatable.
And it works. Engrossing and disturbing in
equal measure, Inside Job is a stunningly crafted and thoroughly
compelling film from start to finish. Narrated by Matt Damon and
expertly directed by Ferguson (this is only his second feature, the
first being the highly lauded No End in Sight: Iraq’s Descent into
Chaos), it’s a fascinating account of unrelenting greed and even
more unrelenting fiscal mismanagement, the billion dollar bailouts
required to steady the ship and the repercussions of the crisis, as well
as the present status of the men who provoked it (yes they are almost
all men, and yes they all managed to hang onto their fortunes). Through
a riveting and seamless blend of interviews, courtroom footage, letters
and documentation, investigation and elucidation, Inside Job
offers a rich and occasionally indignant insight into a trillion dollar
world of corruption. Guaranteed to make your blood boil, laden with
first rate extras (including a rollicking and highly enjoyable audio
commentary) and absolutely not to be missed.
Special Features
Audio Commentary with Charles H. Ferguson
and Producer Audrey Marrs
Making of Inside Job
Nine Deleted Scenes
Theatrical Trailer
