Chain Movie Review:


Upon arrived for this screening, we were treated to the presence of a slightly flustered but very pleasant Jem Cohen, explaining that “the movie might not look as good today as it should…we’ve had some technical difficulties, and this film can look a lot better, so if you get a chance to come and see it at another showing that would be great…” Thanks to his taking the effort to explain the situation and offer a choice, most people happily stayed anyway. It was quite endearing to see someone so precious about their work. If you’d spent more than six years shooting, in six countries and eleven US states, damn right you’d want your feature to be looking its best, (and anyway, it looked just fine.)

Not only that, but fellow social commentator Morgan Spurlock, of “Super Size Me” fame (see review, day 2) was hanging around outside the screen too, chatting to some folks about how difficult it was to work of all that McFood he snaffled for his experiment!

Anyhow, back to the feature in question…”Chain” is a retort to globalization and homogenous society, showing us through a new eyes what we know on one level, but are often oblivious to day-to-day. It shows how big business just wants to keep expanding, and makes you wonder if it can be sustained

At the same time, it’s also a fictionalized account of the lives of two women who exist on either end of the spectrum. Firstly, there’s Tamiko, who is looking into acquisitions and building relationships with suitable US companies. Then there’s Amanda, who takes the term ‘Mallrat’ to a whole new level. She’s destitute, squatting in a derelict house, not fully understanding how she has ended up this way.

Both characters represent the extremes, and the transience and fragility of the way we are being conditioned to build our lives now. A job is no longer for life. As Amanda says, “You can’t have a job without an address and you can’t have an address without a job”. People are now absorbed into such large corporations that they become nothing but numbers, no matter how hard they work. Productivity is the key and recreational time is now considered to be company business, with routine drug testing of employees becoming more commonplace.

The opening sequence is of a train, rolling through the countryside at night, to a rabble-rousing track by “Godspeed You Black Emperor!” Then it’s trees trees trees, buildings, buildings buildings until there is nothing but buildings. It’s brilliantly composed.

Corporation logos, illuminated bill-boards, and faceless shopping Meccas are the backdrop, showing that no matter where you go, you can partake in the comfort of a familiar brand. It always looks like somewhere you’ve been before, and stimulates thoughts on whether there is another way.

A digitised voice tells us what the latest share prices are, really showing us how de-personalised big business really is.

There’s a sequence of beautifully edited shots of modern day life are used to illustrate the girls’ dialogue as they tell us their stories. Rather than being preached at, the audience are encouraged to understand through them and apply their experiences to their own. A clever tactic, and food for thought.

The same brands, the same stores are everywhere, and targeted at every demograph “Feed your family for four dollars!” screams a banner. Then there are the ‘upmarket’ shopping malls which are almost a form of segregation, catering only to the more ‘well-to-do’ client.

Of course you couldn’t have an anti-capitalist feature without featuring the ultimate epitome of corporate greed and corruption, step up please (the now defunct)…Enron. It’s fitting that their corporate logo is a letter ‘E’ that appears to have toppled over.

This technique of combining the fictionalized segments with such detailed real - life footage means is a great idea and very effective.

An edgy, highly creative and thought provoking piece of work that could be used in future as a historical document, and will be great to reflect on in times to come, whether we keep heading in the same direction or not. Strangely enough, “Super Size Me” might be the one everyone’s talking about, but this makes a perfect companion piece.

Terresa Gaffney

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