I love the Toronto International Film Festival. I love star-stalking through Yorkville Village. I love watching crowds gather outside of the Hazelton Hotel and the Four Seasons, hoping that the stars will come out. I love chatting with the paparazzi and helping them identify the stars in the pictures they've taken (last week I had to tell one of the paps that he snapped a shot of Amanda Seyfried, because he didn't know who she was). I love the VISA Lounge at the Elgin Theatre where they give you free food and drinks. I love doing covert operations at the Starbucks near the Four Seasons, trying to figure out if there's anyone famous in there (this ends up costing me a lot of money).
This year I sprung for a package for 7 nights of red carpet premieres at the Elgin Theatre. Very exciting. Accompanying me on my TIFF journey is my friend Melodie. Melodie's got opinions, so you'll be hearing from her too.
I saw movies on Friday and Saturday, but first I want to review the movie I saw last night: Michael Moore’s newest documentary “Capitalism: A Love Story”. I’m willing to jump over the Jane Campion and the Coen brothers’ movies because watching Moore’s movie was the best TIFF experience I’ve had to date.
We all know what we’re going to get when we sit down to watch a Michael Moore movie. We’re going to hear about Republican-bashing. We’re going to see Moore advocate about democratic, liberal politics. He might even be a bit “socialist” (Americans, cover your ears, we hear you don’t like that word). Moore’s documentaries are generally moving and he always tackles big issues of justice and fairness, but Capitalism goes beyond any Moore movie that preceded it. The audience applauded – several times – throughout the movie. At the actions of ordinary citizens. At the speeches given by politicians (Democrats, mostly). I even teared up when a family was being forcibly evicted from their home.
TIFF sums up the movie as follows:
Michael Moore has a gift for maintaining two things that people easily lose in times of crisis: perspective and a sense of humor. In 1989, American workers were reeling from Reagan-era policies that favored the wealthy, undermined the middle class and had outright contempt for the poor. That was when Moore arrived at the Festival with his directorial debut Roger & Me, which deployed humor like a secret weapon. He won the People's Choice Award that year and later went on to new heights as a provocateur with Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko.
It is now the twentieth anniversary of his debut, and the gap between rich and poor has only grown worse. Every day brings fresh news of layoffs, foreclosures and financial scandal. The desperate conditions in Flint, Michigan, portrayed in Roger & Me have been replicated across America. Back then, Moore's target was General Motors. Today it's the whole system. And he still hasn't lost his sense of humor.
In Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore is working at the top of his game. The film explores a taboo question: what price does America pay for its love of capitalism? Years ago, that love seemed so innocent. Capitalism meant productivity and security. Now, as financial institutions run amok and families lose their savings, the American dream is looking more like a nightmare. Moore takes us into the lives of ordinary people whose worlds have been turned upside down by the economy, and goes looking for explanations in Washington, D.C., Wall Street and elsewhere. He pays careful attention to the 2008 bank bailout that occurred during the waning days of the Bush administration. Was this really the best hope for America, or just another money grab by the nation's wealthiest?
Moore has an established knack for finding a fresh angle on familiar headlines. Even in an age of excess, he has the ability to surprise. But for all the harsh realities that he uncovers, his films have a way of empowering audiences. By drawing communities together in theatres, he reminds us that there is strength in our numbers.
I’m comfortable declaring that Capitalism is Moore’s best movie to date. As proof, I offer up the fact that all 1400 people in attendance at the Elgin Theatre gave Moore a nearly 5 minute standing ovation at the conclusion of the movie.
Moore is an excellent public speaker. After listening to Jane Campion and the Coen brothers introduce their movies the previous nights, I turned to Melodie and declared that Moore was far superior to the other directors in terms of presentation. The man showed up in his trademark jeans and baseball cap but there’s something charismatic about him. I think it might stem from his strong beliefs and conviction. Michael Moore is a man who knows his opinions and he’s not afraid to discuss them – even if other people get pissed off. After the movie concluded (shortly before midnight) Moore walked through the audience (and even shook Melodie’s hand!) and gave a short Q&A about the film and his opinions on capitalism.
It’s clear that Moore likes Canada. We Canadians like Canada too, thank you very much. We like our universal health care and our strong banking system. We complain, but we don’t even really mind our higher taxes, because we like our subsidized universities and other social programs. Moore’s little joke about the North American premiere of Capitalism being shown in “socialist” Canada was greeted with applause, because we know that we won’t have to pay the next time we visit an emergency room and we’re pretty happy about that. On a side note, we’re not evil socialists. In fact, we’re incredibly polite people. Ask anyone.
Capitalism has the look and feel of many of Moore’s previous films. There’s archival footage, narration by Moore, heart-wrenching stories about families and personal tragedy and crazy antics. We all laughed when Moore went to make a citizen’s arrest of the CEOs of AIG and Goldman Sachs. We all applauded when he put crime scene tape around the perimeter of the Bank of America building on Wall Street. And I dare say there wasn’t one among us who wasn’t disgusted when we learned that companies like Citigroup and Wal-Mart are taking insurance policies out on their employees and profiting from their deaths. These companies even had balance sheets that compared investment to return – as in, did enough employees die to make these policies profitable to the company?
Moore has no love of capitalism. During the Q&A period he called for a complete abolishment of the system. No regulations will ever be good enough, he said, to essentially rein in the evil that is capitalism. The only way to get the US back on track is for a democratic economy. I’m not entirely sure what this would look like, but you cannot help but agree with his viewpoints when you see families choosing to squat in their own homes after foreclosure or watch union workers in Chicago take over a factory after their bank was bailed out but they were denied proper severance.
At the end of the movie I wanted to do something. I wanted to act. I wanted to get involved in a good old-fashioned protest. This is Moore’s greatest gift: the ability to inspire. You may not always agree with his politics, but you have to respect and admire his tireless dedication to justice. He told the audience that he and his crew had helped secure a lawyer for one family who had been evicted. Michael Moore doesn’t just want to make movies, he wants to change the world.
I kind of want to help him. I dare you to see Capitalism and not want to join me.
Star Sightings: Chris Rock was in the audience at Elgin and stayed to watch the entire movie and the Q&A before he was hustled out the side door. My other friend, Hasini, was dying. She LOVES Chris Rock. I admit, he’s pretty awesome too. I was thrilled to be in the same theatre as him.
Email me at clarissa @ tvovermind.com
So if you don’t pay your rent/mortgage and when your landlord/financier decides to take back their property, it’s ok to trespass and refuse to vacate?
I’m confused.
I don’t think that’s the message that Moore intended. I think that the real question is how did the homeowner end up in the situation where they were forced to take back their property because it’s either do that or live on the street or in the back of a truck (which is where one family in the movie ended up living). The real debate is over things like sub-prime mortgages and predatory lending by banks and whether actions like that will ultimately result in unfair banking practices which end up “screwing over” the customers, so to speak.
I think in the recent economic climate it’s fair to ask “why can’t the family pay their rent?” Is it because they lost their job? Is it because the interest rates on their mortgage spiked to high, unsustainable and unfair levels?
Obviously trespassing is wrong and illegal, but many people (in government and in the public) have stated that the actions by many banks and lenders have been harsh, unfair and sometimes even illegal, and some of these families have been reduced to sheer desperation.
Meaningless generalizations aside, it is only fair to expect both parties to abide by the terms of an agreement. If the lender doesn’t, shame on them, if the borrower doesn’t, shame on them.
Before you think me a cold-hearted bastard, know that I was foreclosed on and evicted from my home. Ultimately this was due to loosing my job and my subsequent inability to pay my mortgage. It sucked, but that was the deal. I couldn’t pay, so I couldn’t stay. I didn’t try to blame everyone else or claim that I had some kind of intrinsic right to that house. No, I packed up my wife and two kids and moved into a tiny one bedroom basement apartment that I could afford.
After living there for a while, I eventually worked myself out of my financial hole and got a better job. We are now renting a house ten minutes from my office.
My ultimate point is there is a trend in the world to blame others for our situation instead of taking responsibility and accepting that, for the most part, our lives are what they are because of the choices we have made. Yes, you may have had some bad luck, but that is no excuse, as unforeseen occurrences befall us all. It is how we deal with these inevitable obstacles that speaks about our character and who we are.