occupy

Reviewed by Steve Mccomb. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

Occupy the Movie, directed by Corey Ogilvie, is about the movement of Americans who have been pushed too far by the climate of corporate greed in our country. Because this documentary is filmed in favor of the 99%, supporters of the occupy movement will have a positive reaction toward this film.

The movie starts out with interviews of people giving their opinion about the extreme financial inequality that  wall street banks created gambling and stealing  American workers money, hope, dreams, and their very soul. The situation is explained through interviews, graphs, animations, and narration. A government bought and sold to the banks who let them get away with it, and the movement called OCCUPY that began in response.

Some of the moments that were difficult to watch were the violent ones. There was a part earlier in the film that showed footage of three women being pepper sprayed and a man who’s head was kicked by police officers and there was blood everywhere. It was extremely upsetting.

The film moves from  scenes of the Occupy demonstrations and interviews with people to past events of peaceful resistance  that shaped our history. The scenes are shot outside on location, and have a variety of different types of people involved in the movement. The interviews were interesting and informative.

As with most films on this topic, there was a discussion on the recent history of our tax laws and the deregulation of our banks. The film also focused on the history of civil disobedience and peaceful protest.

This film was well done and accomplished the goal of educating the audience on the state of financial inequality and social injustice in this country and the world. I enjoyed this movie and would encourage others to see it.