The Emperor's New Clothes

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.

I spotted this on Amazon Prime video and decided to take a look, I've never been a huge fan of Russell Brand and was curious about the content.

I found this documentary to be thought provoking and well worth watching. Russell Brand has gained my respect because I believe he is, in his own inimitable style, trying to open people's eyes to the gross inequalities of life in Britain today. I felt compelled to write this review having seen a couple of negative comments about looting, nobody bothered to mention the bankers? This documentary explains in simple terms about the economic crisis and the application of austerity measures to the detriment of those least able to afford it and it does it in a way that keeps you watching to the very end. I do not think It will ever change the opinions of those with closed minds, but for anyone else it should at least make you think, I thoroughly recommend watching this documentary.

Sometimes life is simply not fair. Bad luck can visit us all.

What this film lays bare is that you can work hard all your life, try to stack the chips in your favour by doing that, and yet simply be screwed over by the wealthy powerful who gorge themselves on their wealth and power. It's not just a case of the have-nots being jealous of the haves. It's a case of the haves not being even remotely benign or even grateful to those who work hard all their lives to maintain the wealth creating machines. It's done by smoke and mirrors. The film shows British politicians using key words and phrases to convince voters that they are on their side, understand their daily grind and to convince them that they are their people. It also blows away the notion that the rich are 'wealth creators' as if there would be no wealth, happiness or even jobs in our society if it wasn't for Amazon or Google and the like. The post war period was one of cooperation and relative 'happiness' when CEO salaries were more in line with workers salaries and the taxpayer didn't need to subsidise corporations by subsidising low wages for example or by bailing out failed banks and financial institutions.

The film shows that we clearly live in a society where the wealthy are in control and, by lobbying, donating to, and employing MPs they can make laws that suit them.

One big message from the film is that collective action can work, as a starting point. See the film to see that in practice.

Thank you Russel, you weird combination of knowledgeable man and cheeky child. Keep it up.

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.

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.