THE SHOCK DOCTRINE – Sundance Documentary Review

THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, a documentary directed by Michael Winterbottom (who is the only one of only two directors that had two movies at Sundance this year; the second one being The Killer Inside Me) and Mat Whitecross, puts in image the book written by Naomi Klein (pictured above), The Shock Doctrine, which looks into the hidden phenomenon called disaster capitalism that consists of the opportunistic use of social and economic disasters by governments and big business to advance their own agenda.

The Shock Doctrine does an excellent job of explaining in laymen terms the concept of disaster capitalism and how it has been used throughout history, whether it was in Chile during Pinochet’s rule or even recently with the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11. A simple way of understanding this concept is to observe how governments will use moments of crisis to try and advance their political and economic agendas.

Now, right minded folks might just think that this is a hit job on conservative beliefs a la Michael Moore, which would be wrong. While the documentary has an agenda, it does not try to impose a solution to this. It aims solely at raising awareness at this terrible habit that governments all over the world have taken in using tragedies to push their own ideas, sometimes at the cost of economic stability. Whether you are from the right or from the left, you do not want government to abuse their power in such a despicable way.

Overall, The Shock Doctrine was a compelling documentary but it is not for everyone as the content and delivery requires a certain level of interest in world politics and economic theories. So if that’s not you, this might not appeal to you as much as it appealed to me. That said, you can check out the trailer for THE SHOCK DOCTRINE below.