Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Kevin Spacey bank movie asks "are we all greedy?"
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Weekend Edition
World
Kevin Spacey bank movie asks "are we all greedy?"
Reuters - Saturday, February 12
Send
IM Story
Print
By Mike Collett-White
BERLIN - Kevin Spacey stars in first-time director J.C. Chandor's "Margin Call," a drama set in a New York bank as it scrambles to offload massive toxic debts irrespective of what it means for the market or the population as a whole.
Spacey, as long-serving trading boss Sam, wrestles with the knowledge that his actions will harm the bank's reputation and put people out of work, but he, like others in a cast including Demi Moore, feels obliged to follow orders as that is what pays.
Chandor said the movie, which has its premiere at the Berlin film festival on Friday where it is in the main competition, sought to humanize the world of big-bonus banks and to show that greed went further than the world of finance.
"What the script for me is about is not excessive greed on any one individual's part, but it was the greed on a very small scale of the whole population, certainly in the United States," he told reporters after the official press screening.
Spacey said he welcomed the opportunity to explore what it was like for people caught in the center of the financial crash in 2008.
"There was a period of time where you couldn't pick up a newspaper and not read that every banker was the most horrible and greedy person that walked the face of the earth," the Oscar-winning actor told a news conference.
"The truth is ... in a lot of cases, these are regular people who have regular jobs who aren't making gazillions of dollars and who have to follow orders, and that's the crux of the morality of the piece and why I found it so fascinating."
MASS SACKINGS, DARK HUMOUR
Set over a 24 hour period, Margin Call opens with mass layoffs that are handled with almost comic brutality.
Who goes and who stays seems arbitrary, phone accounts are shut down the minute a person is sacked, and the newly unemployed are frog-marched out of the building clutching cardboard boxes containing their personal effects.
A young analyst, played by Zachary Quinto, is passed an electronic file by his outgoing mentor, and he soon discovers that it contains the bank's dirty secret -- that it is sitting on billions of dollars of almost worthless assets.
Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons plays the ruthless boss, who is called in to the swanky Manhattan offices in the middle of the night for an emergency board meeting where he must decide how best to save the bank from going under.
The actor said he believed all big business was amoral, including the movie industry, as it was driven only by profit.
"The problem is that to live in a world which is self-continuing we need morality," Irons said.
"We have to care about the fact that people are having their houses taken away from them.
"My role was an amoral man who just wanted to keep the ship afloat ... because that was his job, but we have to add something else to the mix. I think that has to be morality."
Asked how the financial crisis had affected the movie business, Spacey said it had made independent film-making even more of a challenge than it used to be.
"I wish and hope that we could return to the days when the major studios had arms for independent films," he said.
"I wish they'd take some of the proceeds and make 10 great small films about stories that ... need to be told."
For Chandor, Margin Call was part thriller and part tragedy, because the investment banks had succeeded in recruiting so many of the brightest young people from around the world.
"It's just people you're seeing ... realizing that they've wasted a little bit of their lives or a lot of their lives and, more importantly, their time."
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
Related Articles
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary Reuters - Saturday, February 12
Kevin Spacey bank movie asks "are we all greedy?" Reuters - Saturday, February 12
Spacey tackles financial crisis at Berlin fest AFP - Saturday, February 12
Firth looks for Oscar boost at BAFTAs AFP - Saturday, February 12
CIB arrests 'Monga'-imitating Taipei gang ANN - Saturday, February 12
News Search
Top Stories
US unveils housing market overhaul
Egypt Live Report
US trade gap widens as China deficit hits record
De Beers returns to profit in boom year for diamonds
S. African wins World Press Photo award
More Top Stories »
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Popular
Most Viewed
US golfer Woods finds old habits hard to shake
Russia loses military satellite: reports
US auto sales jump 17 percent in January
Dow closes over 12,000 for first time since June 2008
Egypt's Mubarak to step down at September election
More Most Viewed »
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Weekend Edition
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo!
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Entertainment
Photos
Yahoo! News Network
Copyright © 2011 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Service |
Privacy Policy |
Community |
Intellectual Property Rights Policy |
Help
Other News on Friday, 11 February 2011 Egypt Live Report
New hurdle for BP-Rosneft deal
Chinese hackers target oil companies: McAfee
Egypt Brotherhood talks of coup, but retracts comment
Medvedev uncovers security flaws in station swoop
Egypt Live Report
Cuba gets fiber-optic cable link to Venezuela
Mubarak to announce handover in speech
Berlusconi bias claim 'neurotic' says top judge
New US jobless claims tumble to 2-year low
Mubarak to address nation amid signs he is to quit
London museum goes wild with animal sex exhibit
Tablets, smartphones to outsell PCs: Deloitte
In Egyptian uprising, crowds learn quickly
|
Instant view
Mining giant Rio Tinto's profits almost triple
Family banned from visiting Iran's Karroubi
Anti-Assange book sparks WikiLeaks war of words
Market awaits bold strategy shift from Nokia's CEO
Gazprom's quarterly earnings down 9%
Egypt power transfer to VP in negotiation
Mubarak could 'respond to people's demands': party
Market awaits bold strategy shift from Nokia's CEO
Afghan suspect recounts lead-up to suicide blast
Treasury: Hezbollah-linked bank money launderer
|
India, Pakistan agree to resume peace talks
N. Korea confirms foot-and-mouth outbreak
Scandal-hit Japan politician refuses to leave party
Mom: Woman who left baby in toilet can't remember
Philippines and Muslim rebels revive peace talks
N. Korea says no need for more meetings with South
Global minimum and maximum temperatures
Thailand rejects UN visit to temple in Cambodia rift
Moderate quake 'strikes off Japan'
China blog spotlights missing-child problem
Facebook mulls $1 billion employee share sale: report
|
YouTube in talks to buy video maker Next New: source
|
Google CEO sees signs of Internet bubble: report
|
Ebay points to PayPal momentum, pledges innovation
|
Nortel patent sale delayed despite intense interest
|
joins tablet craze with digital newsstand
Egyptian cyber activist: 'Mission Accomplished'
Twitter acquisition talk with Facebook, Google: report
Rights group urges end to Thai web editor trial
Anti-computer hacking bill coming in Congress
|
US-TECH Summary
Eminem's comeback will strike chord at Grammys
|
Anti-computer hacking bill coming in Congress
Kelsey Grammer divorce finalized
|
Dressing for success with TV show 90210
|
Verizon iPhone launch greeted by small crowds
Bob Dylan, Dr Dre to perform at Grammys
|
Book describes internal WikiLeaks tensions
Tahrir Square crowd furious at Mubarak speech
Day of reckoning dawns for Nokia's new CEO
Multiculturalism has failed, says French president
Despite protests, Panama liberalizes mining law
Showdown in Egypt as Mubarak hangs on
|
Egypt's Mubarak says transition to last until September
DNA tests could also accidentally reveal incest
Facebook staff might sell fortune in stock: report
IMF chief urges global monetary reform
Ebay points to PayPal momentum, pledges innovation
U.S. shooter in Pakistan held for 14 more days: court
|
Beijing moves to tighten rare earth production
Tunisia says it seizes armed group linked to ex-leader
|
Facebook mulls $1 billion employee share sale: report
Fresh headaches for India PM as corruption scam rages
|
Google in talks to buy video maker Next New: source
Apple working on smaller, cheaper iPhone: report
Special Report: After Mideast, should Russia and China worry?
|
Bones broken as JAL plane hits turbulence
Man caught laden with rare animals at Thai airport
Qualcomm unveils new chip aimed at tablets
Nicolas Sarkozy in pre-election campaign drive
|
Pakistan remands US official in jail for 14 days
Arnold Schwarzenegger looking for movie roles
Day of reckoning dawns for Nokia's new CEO
Indonesia arrests 13 over religious violence
France warns Mexico over jailed national
|
James Franco shrugs off Oscar host pressure
3-D television network set to launch on DirecTV
Blind China activist beaten after video: rights group
Fresh headaches for India PM as corruption scam rages
Australia vows to tackle match-fixing
Berlin film fest honours Iran dissident director
U.S. shooter in Pakistan held for 14 more days
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
Online campaign spurs China kidnap crackdown
He's back! Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to movies
S.Korean skipper tells of 4-month Somali pirate 'hell'
Lohan in gem theft case: 'I would never steal'
Martin Freeman rejects talk of Hobbit 'curse'
Anti-globalisation 'utopias' enter mainstream
Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston eye box office crown
Day of reckoning dawns for Nokia's new CEO
|
"Dukes of Hazzard" actress Peggy Rea dies, age 89
Apple working on smaller, cheaper iPhone: report
|
Fans rally to raise money for RoboCop statue in Detroit
Charlie Sheen reaches divorce deal with estranged wife
Verizon iPhone launch greeted by shorter lines
|
Vietnam devalues dong to fight trade deficit
2011 could be dream year for tech-toy lovers
|
Pakistan national ariline shuts as staff strike continues
Ebay points to PayPal momentum, pledges innovation
|
Seoul shares fall despite rate freeze; tightening looms
Cisco's consumer business group chief to depart
|
China regional banks told to hike reserves: report
Beijing moves to tighten rare earth production
|
Qualcomm unveils new chip aimed at tablets
|
S.Korea freezes key rate despite inflation fears
Pakistani cenbank to buy govt paper in reverse-repo
WRAPUP 2-Bank of Korea holds rates, March raise seen
S.Korea bond curves steepen after BOK holds fire
Pakistan
NZ January house sales slide to record low
Snooki voted nightmare celebrity Valentine's date
|
Social Network beats King's Speech at London awards
|
He's back! Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to movies
|
Dukes of Hazzard actress Peggy Rea dies, age 89
|
Fans rally to raise money for RoboCop statue in Detroit
|
Charlie Sheen reaches divorce deal with estranged wife
|
Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston eye box office crown
|
Joaquin Phoenix out of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
|
De Beers returns to profit in boom year for diamonds
'Beware friendly US,' Ahmadinejad warns Egyptians
Activists on Facebook need protection: senator
Nokia to adopt Microsoft smartphone platform
S. African wins World Press Photo award
IBM's 'Watson' to take on Jeopardy! champs
German inflation at 2.0% in January: statistics
Several killed in crash of private plane: Swiss police
|
US-TECH Summary
Hundreds of Iraqis protest lack of basic services
|
Nokia joins forces with Microsoft to beat competition
Assange lawyer says Swedish PM prejudices case
|
Malaysia charges Somalis for piracy
Thousands of south Yemen protesters demand secession
|
Russia, Japan fail to quell islands row
Pakistan rejects US man's self-defence claim
Haiti quake homeless crisis seen lasting into 2012
|
Kevin Spacey bank movie asks "are we all greedy?"
I may be sinner but my foes want coup: Berlusconi
|
Russia slams 'unacceptable' Japan in islands row
Firth looks for Oscar boost at BAFTAs
Russia raps Japan over island dispute
Iran marks revolution, puts pressure on opposition
|
Confident NY Fashion Week kicks off
Thai-Cambodian conflict goes international
Pakistan unveils slimline cabinet to cut costs
|
Thailand to provide full assistance to people affected by border clashes
US leads call for 'concrete' change in Egypt
Pakistan police reject US gunman's defence claim
Indonesia flag carrier Garuda dives 17.3% on debut
India's Tata Motors quarterly profit soars
India industrial output growth falls in December
Assange lawyer says Swedish PM prejudices case
|
Ambani group identifies stock smear brokers
Asia must work closely on capital flows: S. Korea
Seoul shares fall despite rate freeze; tightening looms
Jobs 'still involved at Apple'
Nokia joins forces with Microsoft to beat competition
Kevin Spacey bank movie asks are we all greedy?
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights