Carlos Ghosn The Last Flight - Tokyo to Beirut Box Boarding Now!

“The 30 minutes waiting in the box on the plane, waiting for it to take off, was probably the longest wait I’ve ever experienced in my life,” he said. In all, he said, he was concealed inside the box for about an hour and a half, adding that it felt like “one year and a half” #CarlosGhosn on his dramatic escape from Japan after being accused of complex financial crimes.

This was a story waiting to be told and I’m not surprised that opinions are polarised on whether Ghosn was guilty as claimed by the Japanese or was he just the victim of high-level politics. The documentary is a fairly incisive take on the rise of #CarlosGhosn and the last fifteen minutes document in first person his much-talked-about escape but you are still left confused on the moot question. Was the demi-god of capitalist corporatism, the Mr Fix-it as he was called, indeed guilty?

#CarlosGhosn - The Last Flight is the story of the sensational escape of the high flying corporate executive from Tokyo to Beirut in late 2019. Wearing an unusual outfit so as not to be tracked by surveillance and hidden inside a box meant for music equipment, his daring flight to freedom left the Japanese red-faced and the world divided.

British film-maker #NickGreen opens his film on the shooting range where Ghosn is practising his shooting skills, wearing his headgear. “He’s a great shot,” says Green of Ghosn. That intense look on his face sums up the man and what he achieved in his career - singular focus, relentless energy and the audacity to take risks that no other person was willing to take. The documentary points out that one of the key traits required of CEOs is sheer endurance - the ability ot stay focused as you zip in and out of a zillion meetings, flights, dinners and public appearances. One of best things about the documentary is that producer #NoraMelhli managed to get not just Ghosn on board; former Nissan executive #GregKelly is also featured in front of the camera. Kelly used to report to Ghosn and now faces a prison sentence in Japan for the charges of under-reporting the sums paid out as salaries to both.

#CarlosGhosn in front of the camera is powerful and compelling. As he speaks directly to the camera, his eyes bore through you and you can see why the man was such a powerful influencer in his corporate life. As CEO of Renault-Nissan, he was instrumental in shutting down major loss making operations sparking off nationwide protests. These resulted in Nissan turning profitable and competitive and raising Ghosn’s status to that of a demi-god. Carole, his wife describes him in the simplest possible manner “He’s a problem solver”. She also talks about the premonition she had that something would go wrong. “When everything is going good, something has to go wrong”

The film takes a neutral stance all through and does not paint any picture of the former CEO. One does get the feeling that it is a little lenient towards him though; an interview with his first wife would have perhaps been interesting. #NickGreen himself was a little more candid when he remarked of Ghosn “ He is just a difficult man to crack”

Steve Jobs once said “If you want to make everyone happy, don't be a leader - sell ice cream”. Over the decades, the popular perception of capitalist corporate culture has been this mercenary, just-do-it, focus-on-the-results executives. While corporations do allude to people as their most valuable assets, I wonder if the people they hire as leaders consider themselves as the nurturers of these assets or of themselves as the precious assets!

The film pieces together the narrative of his success from archival footage and it is only in the last twenty minutes that the story of his escape takes centre-stage. The father-son duo, Micheal and Peter Taylor who assisted him in the escape now face a 3-year prison sentence after being extradited from the US to Japan.

#CarlosGhosnTheLastFlight raises some key questions about the way we do business. As the film says at one point of time, there are many things in business that are legally right but ethically wrong. You do wonder whether Ghosn was indeed guilty. Or was he the victim of international politics with France trying to wrest control of the auto majors. But you do come away with the thought that corporate governance for all the hoopla in recent years, has still miles to go! The film has been produced by #BBCStoryville and #MBCStudios and is streaming on #ShahidVIP.