Inside Job

This sobering documentary (which has just scored an Oscar nomination) paints an enthralling and, more importantly, comprehensible picture of the global financial collapse of 2008. Beginning with a case study of Iceland, then expanding into a comprehensive analysis of the circumstances that brought about the collapse, Inside Job plays out like a conspiracy thriller, although one critically without a single culprit to pin the whole thing on. The hopelessness of the situation is tempered by the soothingly familiar tones of Matt Damon, who narrates.

It's a testament to the skills of director Charles Ferguson (who made the Iraq war doco No End In Sight) that such potentially dry material makes for such a watchable movie. Grim footage of an economically destitute middle America and amazing aerial photography of New York ensures the doco has a highly cinematic feel. Ferguson effectively demonstrates exactly how the financial sector manipulated and corrupted the system to create a power structure that provided exorbitant short-term gains but which was doomed to inevitably falter.

There are heroes and villains throughout the film and Ferguson isn't afraid to show footage of his interview subjects getting irritated and impatient. He maybe relies slightly too much on 'um-ing and ah-ing' soundbites to humiliate certain people but they all clearly deserve it. You may exit the cinema feeling utterly powerless but this is a must-see for anyone with even the slightest interest in how the planet is run.