Video Americain

Review

Co-scripter Joel Bakan works from his book, tracing the corporation's development as an artifice of the industrial age, and with it has made an involving, informative and entertaining documentary. Initially legal constructions first appearing in the 1700s as charters granted by government for specific, limited purposes (e.g.: to build a bridge), the corporation has evolved into the pervasive, intractable force it is today. Through a series of legal maneuverings -- notably, defining the corporation as a person and using the 14th amendment to protect its "rights" -- the corporation as it now exists has limited liability for its actions; it is in fact responsible only to its shareholders and their profits, and is legally bound to put their bottom line above everything else -- even the public good. The film judges corporate behavior against a Personality Diagnostic Checklist; as "persons," corporations are psychopathic and antisocial. Among those interviewed: one Wall Street trader who discloses that his initial response to 9/11 was "Gold must be exploding"; an upper-echelon corporate executive who finds himself pondering the long-term effects of the absence of moral directive. Directors Abbott and Achbar make creative use of the medium, using interviews, archival footage and explanatory graphics; they maintain a kinetic pace while clearly imparting complex information in an engaging, accessible manner. The Corporation greatly contributes to any discussion of present-day political, social and economic conditions.