The Emperor's New Clothes

A documentary about economic inequality. The film begins with the crisis of 2008. Banks fail, states announce rescue packages and the bill goes to taxpayers. It then describes how nobody in the banking sector was prosecuted. Russell Brand takes a camera into the street. He goes to the head offices of banks, asks at the reception desk for executives, argues with security and is put out. Figures are given between the sections: the wealth of a small group at the top against the total of everyone else, the rise in executive pay, the course of the minimum wage and changes in taxation. The narrative does not only present data; it goes to schools and neighbourhoods, talks to children and shows them how wealth is distributed. The form is deliberately loose: street interviews, archive footage, pieces of animation and speaking straight to camera are folded together. Michael Winterbottom directed; he works between documentary and fiction and is entirely on the documentary side here. The film was argued over on release; some critics objected to the presenter's register and to the vagueness of what it proposes. The narrative offers no programme and points to no clear road at the end; its aim is to make the matter visible. A direct source for anyone interested in political documentary and arguments about economics. For a viewer expecting a neutral presentation, the film declares its position in the first minute.