The Corporation (2003)

Documentary that looks at the concept of the corporation throughout recent history up to its present-day dominance.

Directors:

Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott

Writers:

Joel Bakan, Joel Bakan (book),

Stars:

Mikela Jay, Rob Beckwermert, Christopher Gora

10 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Mikela Jay	...	Herself - Narrator (voice) (as Mikela J. Mikael)
Rob Beckwermert	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Christopher Gora	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Nina Jones	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Richard Kopycinski	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Karen Lam	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Sean Lang	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Bert Phillips	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Diana Wilson	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jane Akre	...	Herself - Investigative Reporter
Ray Anderson	...	Himself - CEO, Interface
Joe Badaracco	...	Himself - Professor of Business Ethics, Harvard Business School
Maude Barlow	...	Herself - Chairperson, Council of Canadians
Chris Barrett	...	Himself - Corporate Sponsored University Students
Marc Barry	...	Himself - Competitive Intelligence Professional

Storyline

Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.

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Plot Keywords:

corporation | business | two word title | civilization | anti consumerism | 

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site

Country:

Canada

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

4 June 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Corporação

Filming Locations:

Celebration, Florida, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$28,671 (USA) (4 June 2004)

Gross:

$1,879,301 (USA) (12 November 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Big Picture Media Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

145 min 150 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente) 165 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mikela J. Mikael was called in to lay down a temp track for the narration. Despite repeated efforts, the film-makers were unable to come up with anyone better for the real narrative track, so they stuck with Mikael's.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: 150 years ago, the business corporation was a relatively insignificant institution. Today, it is all-pervasive. Like the Church, the Monarchy and the Communist Party in other times and places, the corporation is today's dominant institution. This documentary examines the nature, evolution, impacts, and possible futures of the modern business corporation. Initially given a narrow legal mandate, what has allowed today's corporation to achieve such extraordinary power and influence ...

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Crazy Credits

The credits display addresses and descriptions of related websites but they can also be found on the official website for the film.

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Connections

References Casino Royale (1967)

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Soundtracks

The Love Life of the Octopus
Written and Performed by Yo La Tengo
Published by Roshashauna Music/Excellent Classical Songs
Courtesy of Egon Records

User Reviews

if there's any film that you roll out of bed to watch this year, please let this be the one.

most people who have an interest in progressive causes will be somewhat familiar with the outline of the film - corporate personhood has essentially led to corporations having an insane amount of control over what we see, eat, drink, breathe and consume in general. corporations have become part of our consciousness at an unshakable and unwashable level. they are ubiquitous, single-minded (profit), subversive parasites that erode our society from within. with this in mind you'd think the film was a marxist commercial out to bring capitalism to its knees. you'd be wrong. the film is remarkably even-handed in its approach.

governmental as well as market fixes are proposed by different interviewees. i'm very much into the work of noam chomsky and michael moore (both are interviewed), i've read fast food nation, i'm a big fan of adbusters, i own naomi klein's "no logo" and korten's "when corporations rule the world" so a lot of this stuff wasn't all that new to me, but some of it was and the film is a perfect amalgamation of all this information. archive footage is used extremely well, like a hip-hop artist melding together samples in ways that create an entirely different tapestry of sound. interviews, archival footage, and good old investigative journalism are used to present a solid case about the role corporations have in our global society; as well as how we've gotten to this point and where we may be going. despite the heavy nature and brutal pacing of much of the film, there are a few moments of ironic comedy.

i do think the film would have done well with a few momentary pauses early in the film to allow things to soak in. in feature films a director might cut to an exterior for a beat or two to allow a bit of a cushion from one scene to the next, something similar may have aided the pacing of this film. it's actually remarkable that i wished it had taken a little more time considering its 2 hour and 25 minute runtime. i think it's testament to the film's strength. i also want to note that the long runtime and heavy nature of the film never came off as dry or overly-academic. in other words, it's not a boring film to watch - quite the contrary, it's a rather engaging and almost fun film to watch. i say "fun" reluctantly because learning about the ways in which a corporation is bilking America and the world out of our natural resources and hard-earned money isn't fun, but if you're interested in learning then it is an exciting film. a quick side note - the narrator had a perfect voice for the material and she reminded me a lot of the narrator in the "second renaissance" portions of the animatrix. generally i don't give films i've only seen once anything better than a B+, but this film blew me away from start to finish on so many different levels...A.