The Emperor's New Clothes

He's bringing up some really good points about the lawlessness of the city when it comes to financial crimes committed by the banks.

One thing he keep's blaming it on is a 'free market' This is just simply not true, we don't have a free market by any stretch of the imagination.

We live in an oligarchy with the rich being above the law.

Don't be fooled, more power to government is not the answer.

There's been many attempts to blame it on capitalism, since Marx. This has never and will never lead to a revolution that will do the common people any good whatsoever.

Russell Brand presents a quick look into global capitalism, the spreading ownership cult of the one percent and it's devastating effects on the working class and the unemployed.

Director/writer Michael Winterbottom tries to simplify this very complex and often esoteric issue so the average person can comprehend it. The scenes with the school children is a good example. Plus the one on one interviews with the people on social assistance is another example.

Unfortunately for me, I had a rather difficult time understand everything Russell Brand is saying with that terrible inner city British accent! I feel as if I missed some important statements by him. But please do not let his speaking influence your decision to watch this documentary. There is a lot to be learned about how the 1% is setting themselves into ivory towers --- the future overlords of all.

The Pros:

1) This is a very well made documentary in true Brand style - no holds barred presentation of the facts.

2) Winterbottom, Brand and their team should be congratulated for capturing a true reflection of current financial inequality and hardship in Britain (and to some extent, globally).

3) Easy to watch and relate to. Hard not to agree with everything Brand says, with compelling evidence of banking system corruption, government secret deals and corporate tax avoidance.

I particularly enjoyed the scenes with the kids at the school and thought the analogy about sharing toys equally was powerful.

Cons: Other than the obvious points: 1) that many of the figures presented could be argued for accuracy

2) the timing of the release to coincide with a British election is a bit suspicious.

3) very little if not zero critique of any Labour policies, therefore makes it clear where Brand's political party allegiance lies, which is fine, but it appears to be concealed.

4) Whilst the subject matter is painfully true and this film should be seen by everyone - it is very light on any form of prescription or a "what to do next" or "what can you do now". Obviously the team have decided not to take that route - but it seems a missed opportunity if someone sits through 90 minutes, agrees with it and then goes back to watching Eastenders afterwards. Even a "Subscribe to the Trews" link would have been better than nothing... youtube.com/user/russellbrand

Conclusion

Russell, thanks for putting yourself on the line to speak for the gross inequalities that exist in Britain. Regardless of what your motives might be - you are doing a great service to the human race.

This film should be shown free and played on loop in the hope that Occupy or whatever organisation comes next - can be more widely mobilised in order to be successful.

After watching this documentary, the children were impressed so I asked them to reach for their mobile phones and google "how many phones are in the world". They know no other phones than mobile phones and no better source than Wikipedia. Probably, neither do you.

Wikipedia told them that there are approximately over 6,800,000,000 mobile phones in use for a global population of 7,012,000,000. They also delighted themselves by looking up the breakdown by country etc. Please also do so yourself.

Thirty, forty years ago no one could have thought that by today each person would have their own private phone line, much less in their pocket, and to boot, not just a phone but a computer.

Yet the poor are getting poorer, we are told.

I wonder what this documentary would have been like if instead of wealth, Russell Brand had had knowledge or commonsense. We will never find out.

Labelled as a film regarding the growing disparity between economic classes, Michael Winterbottom's The Emperor's New Clothes is an effective documentary balancing political and economic investigation with Russell Brand's palpably galvanic and marmite personality.

The film combines interviews with Brand himself, along with politicians and bankers. Brand begins by summating that much of what will be explored in the documentary won't be instantaneously enlightening, a far stretch from the explosively impactful manner as last year's masterful Citizen Four. Despite this, where I do believe the film achieves success is in its exposing of issues and its raising of awareness towards certain issues. As aforementioned, much of Brand's insight is foreseeable to those of a certain age. However; the teenage and young adult audience, much of what is explored could be thought-provoking, and is presented in a straightforward and confronting style which appears purposeful yet remains focused throughout. This, taken in combination with Brand's personality, does make what initially appears challenging subjective matter abundantly more digestible.

What is problematic is that the film at times felt like a flaccid attempt of a brief Russell Brand biopic. For the majority of the film Brand's presence is handled adeptly, yet I find at times the focus on his unabashed comedic set pieces (pleading at the top of his voice to bystanders to give up corrupt bankers and his Michael Moore-ish attempt of breaking and entering a bank) turned the focus from suggested gargantuan corruptness into a love letter to Brand's eccentricity. For fans of Brand, it's nothing particularly abhorrent, but for those on the other side of the fence, this shift will do little to convince them to change their tune.