Margin call film analysis

Each ascending echelon of the banks hierarchy has a weaker understanding of the complex financial instruments they are trading than the one beneath it. Margin call depicts the last night of good times on wall street, as a deadly certainty travels up the executive ladder at an investment firm. Jake bernstein, in his mash note to margin call, is right to see the moral heart of the movie in this speech by paul bettanys character, will emerson. Margin call s allstar cast brings to life writerdirector j. Margin call is a 2011 american drama thriller movie written and directed by j. Debuting at a time when the occupy wall street movement seeks to make caricatured villains of bankers and much of. Follows the key people at an investment bank, over a 24hour period, during the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. The principal story takes place over a 24hour period at a large wall street investment bank during the initial stages of the financial crisis of 200708. In focus are the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse. Disastrous speculation in the mortgage markets is leading to the firms collapse.

Margin call is probably the best fictional treatment of the latest economic crisis and is, to my mind, in the same league as the wonderfully acutely intelligent documentary inside job. Margin call, also set over some 36 hours or so, initially appears to be located in an altogether more honourable and affluent place, the manhattan headquarters of a respected investment bank. Margin call is the smartest movie you will ever see about the financial crisis. How margin call gets it right about the financial crisis. Margin call portrays the last night of good times on wall street. We can still recall those days in the summer of 2008, during the obamamccain campaign, when america seemed awash in prosperity. The action takes place over a couple of days in the manhattan headquarters of an unnamed highly respected investment bank and the film opens with the banks latest round of brutal lay offs. A respected financial company is downsizing and one of the victims is the risk management division head, who was working on a major. Jake bernstein, in his mash note to margin call, is right to see the moral heart of the movie in a speech by paul bettanys character, will emerson. Chandors film, which is the most insightful wall street movie ever produced.