"The Corporation"

The Corporation (2004): 10/10

Poster (c) Zeitgeist Films

There's an onslaught of movies touting liberal standpoints now. Of course, there's Fahrenheit 9/11, but there's also the upcoming The Hunting of the President, defending Bill Clinton's presidency. And there's a lesser known movie that's out that also has Michael Moore as a talking head called The Corporation, which I saw previously at the Philadelphia Film Festival. It's a smaller topic than others, yet what it says is infinitely more important than what the other films say. It's basically preaching to the converted (much like the others I mentioned did/will do-and what Michael Moore Hates America will do to the other end of the spectrum), but if you're one of the converted, you're in for an emotional two and a half hours.

Jennifer Abbott, Mark Achbar and Joel Bakan, based on the latter's book, make a fascinating documentary about the evils of corporations. The beauty of this doc is that although they demonize and ridicule corporations, they never say that they need to be destroyed, because they're necessary. With talking heads like Moore, Noam Chomsky, and others, you can expect the film to be biased, but there are some people for the other side, also. Of course, one finishes up by saying "Okay, enough bulls**t," when speaking his mind. In this movie, the dangers that corporations put upon life of humans, animals, and the environment are shown. And unlike Fahrenheit 9/11, for instance, all of the conclusions and connections are not farfetched. It does more than persuade you for an argument-it puts you there with a lot of archive footage and makes you feel personally affected by the corporation (which you probably have been).

When I saw The Corporation for the first time about three months ago, I was impressed on how well done the documentary was made. There's a voice over that seems to be stright out of Logan's Run, animation, and a lot of harrowing archival footage. It goes off on a few small tangents (such as advertising), but they're all related to the film's general topic of the evils of corporations. It exposes them in a way Moore would like to do to the Bush administration. When you're done with this movie, you'll feel awful walking out, and, like Moore says at the end, you'll want to go out and do something. I will do something. What, I don't know. It may be drinking crappy store brand soda or something, or something more, but this movie makes you want to take a stand against the corporate world. Now if only Moore's "Corporate Cops" idea from Bowling for Columbine was actually created....

Not Rated (images of violence)

Review Date: July 25, 2004