| Master Fan
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 24,138
| here its not that wide but nothing like 1 copy like some reeeeally arthouse films
Bought a local magazine a la Time Out with the review
a Very positive one. The main thing is pointed out to be that there's no bad guy in the film & u're forced to sympathize with the characters even if in real life they may not be that innocent.
Really loved the fact that the reviewer said it was tense & not boring/ solely about figures & finance but about the ppl instead. Cast is praised as well though no one in particular.
Can't wait for thursday  Zach & Neal Dodson will be here 4 the local premiere.
great article+vids Quote: Margin Call – The Most Relevant Film of our Age?
There are movies that instinctively capture the most pertinent apprehensions of an age. Margin Call achieves this consciously.
It is the first feature length film produced by the highly progressive production company Before the Door. Remarkably, it is also the first full length motion picture by the film’s writer and director, J.C. Chandor, and has already been nominated for a Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Despite Margin Call being independently produced, the film boasts a star studded cast including: Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Simon Baker, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Mary McDonnell, Paul Bettany, and Penn Badgley.
It is a financial thriller loosely based on the global economic crisis that began in 2007. The film takes place over a 24 hour period at an investment bank, and concentrates on the decisions of key players as they discover the multi-trillion dollar firm is on the brink of insolvency.
Why is Margin Call significant? Here’s one (hopefully jargon-lite) reason.
Think of money as water. A major financial hub such as Wall Street in New York City, is like a centralized body of water. As water is disrupted waves disperse outward in all directions. Now, think of a Margin Call as the Titanic sinking in Lake Ontario (as opposed to the Atlantic).
In other words, a financial crash of this size would guarantee your country, and your bank, has lost money. They must recover this somehow. So let’s say they recover their losses from the oil and gas companies.
Everyone needs fuel. This includes transport companies, airlines, consumers, etc.
Suddenly, costs universally increase because the oil and gas companies must also recover their losses. As each subsequent ink in the chain pays rising costs, fiscal recovery – needed to maintain the profits of all these links – also disperse outward. Think of this as ‘the wave effect’ of a market crash. Gas stations may not sell as much because people cannot afford fuel hikes. Likewise, grocers may lose sales as well as stock because people are buying fewer fresh fruit and vegetables. Fewer cars are sold. Fewer everything is sold.
This means companies must downsize to maintain profits, and lay-offs begin. Consumers spend even less.
This lack of consumer confidence affects Wall Street again. There is another splash. More losses must be recovered…. You get the idea.
At the outset of the Margin Call many of the financial professionals employed at the dying firm are let go. Along with other aspects of the film, this sad start lends credence to the story as relevant to our time; it also lays the groundwork for humanizing the central cast.
The characters of Margin Call aren’t the great and terrible market wizards represented in most financial thrillers. They’re people at work, and in crisis. Rather, the cast found themselves increasingly cognizant of the concerns faced by money movers and shakers. As Demi Moore neatly describes,
“.. it doesn’t bring comfort; it brings insight.”
On a side note: It’s interesting how the socio-economic views of the cast complement those of their characters. I particularly enjoyed Paul Bettany’s proposal of a new tax…and Kevin Spacey’s visual response to Bettany’s proposition.
Margin Call is as much about people as it is about money. Such strangulating pressure reveals the very nature of a human being. What would you do if you knew you would lose your house, your car, your investments, and any possibility of working in your field ever again – unless you ‘fixed’ the problem in just 24 hours? What if you knew your choices would affect the lives of thousands, or even millions, of people? What if every option is a bad one?
These are some of the questions faced in Margin Call; these challenges are increasingly very real.
It is because of such tantalizing intellectual, and emotional, intensity that I have become a fan of Before the Door, and indeed, Zachary Quinto. From the graphic novel noir Mr. Murder is Dead, to the upcoming feature film Margin Call, everything they have produced has been meticulous, comprehensive, and (most importantly) compelling.
I think I speak for many when I say to the boys of Before the Door, “Remember this day.”
Margin Call is scheduled to hit theaters across North America October 21, 2011.
| http://lefthandjournal.blog.com/2011...ie-of-our-age/
Jeremy @ the Swiss prem
Zurich film fest http://jeremyirons.net/2011/09/25/je...film-festival/
Last edited by science girlfriend; 09-26-2011 at 04:17 AM |
boo if that's the case
