This is my entry for “G” in the Blogging A to Z Challenge. Throughout April I will be watching and reviewing a documentary movie from A to Z. Some other “G” documentaries I’ve reviewed are Galapagos: The Enchanted Voyage, The Gnomist, and Gimme Shelter.
Title: Goldman Sachs: The Bank That Rules the World
Release Date: 4 September 2012
Director: Jérôme Fritel and Marc Roche
Production Company: Capa Presse
Summary/Review:
This French-language documentary explores the role of the investment bank Goldman Sachs in the Financial Crisis of 2007-2008, the Greek Debt Crisis, and other financial scandals. It also shows the alarming number of Goldman Sachs’ alumni active in the United States government and the European Union council.
This is a movie where the expose style of documentary hurts more than helps. Goldman Sachs and other financial services industry corporations are almost certainly bad actors in the governments and economies of the world. But this documentary comes off as a conspiracy theory, and it doesn’t help that none of the people interviewed on screen are ever identified. There are also cheesy factors such as having interviewees make their first appearance on grainy black & white film as if they were on security cameras and framing the film with digital stock ticker symbols that just make the movie look ridiculous.
What Can One Learn From Watching This Documentary:
There are some interesting details such as former Goldman Sachs people in the government using the financial crisis to punish Goldman Sachs’ competitors at Lehman Bros while bailing out AIG where Goldman Sachs had investments that I learned, but as I noted above it’s hard to parse out the truth from the hyperbolic conspiracy theory vibe.
If You Like This You Might Also Want To …: Watch The Big Short, a docu-drama about the causes of the financial crisis, or a read the book it’s based on. For a more positive spin on an earlier era of Goldman Sachs, read John Whitehead’s autobiography A Life in Leadership.
Source: I watched this movie on Netflix streaming.
Rating: **
Panorama of the Mountains 
I have never even heard of that movie?
Living in Switzerland I am surrounded by banking, and even though I used to work for one, I can’t find anything worth striving for in that world. So much greed and backstabbing.
Happy Weekend!
https://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/2018/04/g-is-for-geneva.html
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I agree.
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Pretty sure I’d be totally lost in trying to understand THIS one!
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I have enough problem understanding credit default swaps in English.
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To bad it wasn’t more well done as it’s an interesting topic. I watched The Big Short. It was excellent. Weekends In Maine
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I cried at the end of The Big Short.
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Still sounds like dirty business. Many years ago, I worked in the mortgage division of a major U.S. bank (in a small role only). I was pretty miserable going to work every day, and even more miserable when I got laid off under false pretenses because I am an excellent, dedicated worker. I then found a job I enjoyed more, but still got laid off eventually “because of the economy.”
Anyway, yes, all corporations have dirty doings going on behind the scenes. I don’t understand how so many people embrace these positions and why they get their kicks doing bad deeds.
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Thanks for your comment. It does make you wonder.
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You’re going to be busy watching all these documentaries and composing your posts. Great theme though. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
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I tried to get everything done in March, but I still have 6 1/2 movies to watch. I should be done soon and then enjoy the rest of April reading and responding to everyone’s A to Z posts.
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