#MarginCall is an intense gripping saga of the events over 36 hours at an investment bank in Manhattan just preluding the financial crisis of 2008. It ranks among the top 10 movies on financial markets and manages to keep you on the edge of your seat without getting into the technicalities of the stock market, financial instruments or trading jargon.
On the occasion of #Dhanteras and mahurat trading at the stock markets in India, ASHOK’s FIVE reviews writer-director #JDChandor’s #MarginCall available on #NetflixIndia.
The film opens with what is de rigour in the corporate world today – 80% of the employees at the bank simply called “The Firm” are getting laid off. The one person who knows the technicalities of the firm’s business Eric Dale (#StanleyTucci) has been fired, and as he leaves, he hands over a pen drive to young risk analyst Peter Sullivan (#ZacharyQuinto, remember him in #Startrek?). Peter is a PhD in physics, and he deciphers the content of the pen drive to discover that the entire financial modelling that the bank has based its business it going to go wrong with potential to leave the firm belly up.
The film boasts an ensemble cast that includes Peter’s colleague, Seth Bergman (#PennBadgley), superior Will Emerson (#PaulBettany) and the fabulous Sam Rogers (#KevinSpacey). The manner in which the entire issue is escalated up level by level is fascinating. Enter #DemiMoore and #JeremyIrons as the CEO John Tuld who is flown across in the middle of the night in a helicopter and excels in tough talk without a clue as to what the real issue is! The firm incidentally is modelled around #LehmanBrothers and the crash that they encountered in 2008. What piques your interest is that most of the senior brass are there to ‘manage’ the situation have very little understanding of what the firm’s actual business is all about. The Armani and Louis Vuitton suits and the corporate trappings cloak the fact that the firm has been dealing with sub-prime assets that are hollow and thus taking their hapless investors for a ride.
The music by #NathanLarson is just about right and helps to build up the suspense on the strength of dialogue, drama and the high octave bars.
#MarginCall is a tale of greed. It is a story of opportunism, cowboy corporate practises and sheer vanity. The CEO of the firm says it all “There are three ways to make a living in this business; be first, be smarter or cheat”
The film does a fantastic job of ‘humanising’ the actors – the corporate barons, the fin-tech wizards and the managers who turn the wheels of the financial services industry. To that extent, there are no villains, and everyone is working for the common goal – the good of the corporation. There is the usual cement, steel and glass offices, plush board-rooms and the grim looking foyers. Everyone is busy, everyone is tense and there is no joy on anyone’s face. Quite clearly this is all a make-believe world subsidised by blatant fraud.
Okay time for me to step out and buy some gold for now!
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