Kharlamova Elizaveta
BURCH 192
Essay on movies
Introduction
Art is necessary in our lives not only to represent human thoughts and feelings, but also to
make sense of the present and to rethink the past. Art is the most effective way to touch the hearts
of many people at once and to draw their attention to a particular event. Films are one of the most
common art forms, along with music.
The genre of economic films is a special genre through which the viewer can understand
the development of economic events and their impact on the fate of people in general and his life
in particular. The most characteristic feature of economic films is the reflection of some global
historical events that have influenced the lives of many people. Such events are certainly economic
crises.
One of the most striking films about the economic crisis are “Default”, a 2018 South
Korean drama film directed by Choi Kook-hee, and “Margin Call” a 2011 American drama film
written and directed by J. C. Chandor.
Films comparing
The “Default” tells about the events of the Asian financial crisis, which occurred in 19971998. The events unfolding in the film show the impact of the economy on the lives of different
segments of the population: the political top, investors and ordinary citizens. The film takes place
in one week, during which the financial crisis inexorably looms over the country. Gradually, events
that could have been prevented at some point become irreversible and the country plunges into the
deepest financial crisis.
The “Margin Call” conveys a similar atmosphere of a gradually approaching inexorable
storm, but there are significant differences between the two films. Risk Limit shows the events on
the eve of the subprime mortgage crisis, 2007. The film is set in one particular Wall Street
investment company and how the realization of the inevitable downfall gradually permeates all
levels of the company from junior analysts to owners. The timeline of the films also varies
considerably. In The Limit of Risk all events unfold over the course of twenty-four hours.
From my point of view, the film “Default” seemed more interesting. First of all, the events
shown in this film are not often covered in cinematography, unlike the crisis of 2007-2008 in the
USA, where in addition to “Risk Limit” such films as “The Big Short”, “Inside Job” and “Too Big
to Fail” were made. At the same time, the events of the Asian crisis of 1997-1998 are not so
reflexive to cinema. I also liked the multifaceted and social side of the crisis shown in Default. In
the “Margin Call”, the characters made a decision to make money out of the crisis, and although a
number of the characters felt remorse, nevertheless the impact of the economic situation on their
private lives was not shown in the film. Moreover, almost all the heroes of the movie made quite
a lot of money on the financial collapse due to the fact that the company decided to sell all its
shares first, thus starting the stock market crash.
Most of the characters in the “Default”, on the contrary, feel fear and despair at the
impending financial meltdown, and the few characters who will make money from this crisis
experience some frustration and loss: “In the “Default”, the character of Choi Guk-hee,
overwhelmed by his luck and sudden wealth, experiences feelings like a roller coaster ride - from
guilt and regret to madness and euphoria”1. Most importantly, however, this film focuses on the
social consequences of economic downturns. In my opinion, this is important to show because any
economic decisions and consequences hit the poor and the middle class first and foremost. People
lose their jobs and livelihoods en masse, commit suicide, get into exorbitant debt, and go to jail.
1
Ekaterina Semina about the film "Default": it's a visual guide on how to let an entire country go to rack and ruin.
Date Views 13.12.2022 rtvi.com/opinions/o-filme-defolt/.
For a better understanding, it is necessary to correlate the social forecasts in the film with real
statistics.
According to official data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, the number of suicides for every 100,000 people in South Korea has grown from
16,3 people to 22,7 people2. The number of unemployed has also increased dramatically. In 1997,
the percentage of unemployed was 2.6% of the total working-age population of the country, and
in 1998 unemployment increased to 7%3. Also, in the “Default”, the heroes revealed the
consequences of the introduction of economic cooperation with the IMF. It is also necessary to
correlate these forecasts with reality.
Social consequences
In the middle of the film, the protagonist, Xi Hyun, tries to stop negotiations between the
South Korean government and the International Monetary Fund, lists at a conference with
journalists the horrific social consequences of making a decision to borrow from the IMF and
accepting their terms. Among them: a decrease in the level of official employment, an increase in
the gap between the poorest and richest segments of the population, the appearance of “employed
beggars”, people who are working, but whose income is not enough even to cover household
needs. Her fears were almost entirely justified in reality.
After the 1997 Asian financial crisis there was a turn toward greater flexibility in the
employment structure that had developed during the period of authoritarian modernization. While
in 1995 58% of workers were in full-time employment, in 2000 only 48%.4 The neoliberal labor
market reforms dictated by the International Monetary Fund in the 2000s led to growing social
polarization: the upper middle stratum grew, the middle stratum “dropped out” of the mass of
people whose incomes decreased due to the transition to part-time employment, wage cuts and
devaluation of the national currency, and the lower stratum, which was also supplemented by the
inflow of foreign workers5. The income gap between the wealthiest 20% of the population and the
poorest 20% grew from 4 to 5 times6. At the same time, the "erosion" of the middle class and the
emergence, for the first time since the 1970s, of a huge category of people who are permanently
employed, but below the poverty line, there has been an increase from 2% in the early 1990s to
5% in the 2000s7 of a super new middle stratum, made up of top managers and highly paid
professionals from post-industrial sectors of the economy.
To date, the Korean economy has recovered after the crisis, the country is in one of the
leading positions among the world economies in terms of sustainability and GDP. Following the
economy, society is also recovering. The unemployment rate today is 3.7%8. However, Korea still
has a high suicide rate among the population: 24.1 people per 100,000 population9. The country is
2
OECD - Suicide rates. Date Views 13.12.2022 data.oecd.org/healthstat/suicide-rates.htm.
Unemployment rate in Korea. Date Views 13.12.2022 svspb.net/danmark/bezrabotica.php?l=koreja.
4
Lee W.-D., Lee B.-H. Korean Industrial Relations in the Era of Globalization // Journal of Industrial Relations. 2003.
Vol. 45. No 4
5
Ivanov Dmitry Vladislavovich In the footsteps of the "tiger": analysis of the trajectories of social change in South
Korea // ZHSSA. 2012. No. 4. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/po-sledam-tigra-analiz-traektoriy-sotsialnyhizmeneniy-v-yuzhnoy-koree (accessed: 13.12.2022).
6
Kim A.E., Park I. Changing Trends of Work in South Korea: The Rapid Growth of Underemployment and Job
Insecurity // Asian Survey. 2006. Vol. 46. No 3.
7
Hong D.-S. Social Change and Stratification // Social Indicators Research. 2003. Vol. 62 / 63. Pp. 39–50
8
Unemployment rate in Korea. Date Views 13.12.2022 svspb.net/danmark/bezrabotica.php?l=koreja.
9
OECD - Suicide rates. Date Views 13.12.2022 data.oecd.org/healthstat/suicide-rates.htm.
3
also ranked 59th in the world in terms of happiness10, which on the one hand is not a low indicator,
and the other hand, this indicator is not successful for 10 of the world's economy11.
Conclusion
Thus, both the films “Default” and “Margin Call” are excellent films in the genre of
economic cinema. These films reflect both the economic and emotional tension of society on the
example of specific people and their lives. At the same time, the film “Default” seemed to me
more complex, highlighting a rather little-known economic crisis in wide circles, as well as paying
attention to a larger number of segments of the population and the social reflection of economic
events. Both of these films are definitely recommended for viewing; however, for a deeper
immersion and a comprehensive look at economic events from the perspective of both the
government and investors, that is, people who have information about what is happening and
receive up-to-date analytics, and people from poor backgrounds who do not have any special
knowledge and connections, I would first recommend watching exactly the “Default”. After it, it
will be more interesting to look more closely at the developing economic crisis from the local point
of view of a large investment company in the film the “Margin Call”.
10
World Happiness Report 2022. Date Views 13.12.2022 happiness-report.s3.amazonaws.com/2022/WHR+22.pdf.
South Korea ranked 10th in the world by economy size — OECD. Date Views 13.12.2022
regnum.ru/news/economy/2962944.html.
11
Sources and literature
1. OECD - Suicide rates. Date Views 13.12.2022 data.oecd.org/healthstat/suicide-rates.htm
2. Unemployment
rate
in
Korea.
Date
Views
13.12.2022
svspb.net/danmark/bezrabotica.php?l=koreja.
3. World Happiness Report 2022. Date
report.s3.amazonaws.com/2022/WHR+22.pdf
4.
Views
13.12.2022
happiness-
World Happiness Report 2022. Date Views 13.12.2022 happinessreport.s3.amazonaws.com/2022/WHR+22.pdf.
5. Ivanov Dmitry Vladislavovich In the footsteps of the "tiger": analysis of the trajectories of
social
change
in
South
Korea
//
ZHSSA.
2012.
No.
4.
URL:
https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/po-sledam-tigra-analiz-traektoriy-sotsialnyhizmeneniy-v-yuzhnoy-koree (accessed: 13.12.2022).
6. Kim A.E., Park I. Changing Trends of Work in South Korea: The Rapid Growth of
Underemployment and Job Insecurity // Asian Survey. 2006. Vol. 46. No 3.
7. Hong D.-S. Social Change and Stratification // Social Indicators Research. 2003. Vol. 62 /
63. Pp. 39–50
8. Ekaterina Semina about the film "Default": it's a visual guide on how to let an entire
country go to rack and ruin. Date Views 13.12.2022 rtvi.com/opinions/o-filme-defolt/.