The Big Short focuses on four individuals on Wall Street who predicted the sub-prime mortgage crisis and banking collapse of 2008. Knowing that the housing bubble was going to burst they decided to bet against the banks by buying credit default swaps. Christian Bale plays Michael Burry, a hedge fund investor who in 2005 makes the prediction and starts the market on credit default swaps. Other investors, played by Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt soon get wind of Burrys prediction and decide to follow him.
The banks laugh about them as they are so confident about the security of the housing market but sell the credit default swaps thinking its easy money. But of course, as we know, these people were proved right as a mortgage crisis led to several banks collapsing while others were given huge government bailouts. When the housing market collapsed, these investors made billions, with Burry making a 489% profit on his investment!
The film does very well to explain the jargon behind the banking. It does so by regularly breaking the fourth wall as characters talk directly to the audience.
At the same time the film highlights the bravado of the banks and bankers who were so sure of the housing market that they walked straight into the crisis. Bankers are shown as narcissistic, greedy individuals who care only about making money and don't care who suffers. At the same time, the four who bet against the bankers are shown as the heroes of the film, as if they, unlike the bankers, have a conscience. This is despite the fact that they made huge amounts of money as a result of banks going into crisis which lead to millions in the USA losing their homes and jobs
Some of the characters do try and warn the banks they are heading for crisis, and also tip off the media, but they are ignored and ridiculed. One particularly memorable scene sees Carrell speaking at a debate at a bankers conference in Las Vegas. He is laughed at and ridiculed by a banker from Bear Stearns, while at the same time, the banks value is shown plummeting, an event that helped precipitate the crisis.
Unfortunately the film does descend into Wolf of Wall Street style excess at times when showing the bankers lifestyles. This can be wearying and seems to be a desperate attempt to add a bit of thrill to what is otherwise a very dialogue heavy film. And women have a very small role in the film, other than when they are strippers being objectified. By the time Marisa Tomei reappeared near the end of the film, I had forgotten that she was in it. Although this can be said to be a reflection of the real banking world, which is very male dominated.
Overall though, the film is enjoyable and informative. The film is very well acted, particularly by Steve Carrell who is on top form as the most cynical of the four. He is also the one who most realises who will suffer most from the banking crisis, its not the bankers or investors. Its the people who are evicted from their homes.
The film ends with the frustrating note that the banks who survived the crisis, are now engaging in exactly the same practices that led to the crisis, they have just changed the jargon. As we know, capitalism is bound up in boom and bust cycles, during the bust, some companies like Bear Stearns will go broke but others will survive and continue on. And it will be the ordinary people who pay for the damage. Ultimately, we have to change the system that is tied up in these institutions. To protect people, and end the greed and avarice of the wealthy and powerful, we need to get rid of capitalism.
No comments:
Post a Comment