Icarus Films furthers its manifesto to make "innovative" documentaries available to the masses with the May 1, 2018 (a.k.a. May Day) DVD release of the 2011 documentary "Marx Reloaded." The significance of this date includes it being the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx. This exploration of the theories of Marx and their relevance to our current economic crisis includes analysis of the viability of capitalism.
The further relevance of the "Reloaded" release is that it coincides with the Icarus epic 3-disc DVD release of "Capitalism." This look at that system extends from the present day to the era before 18th century economics god Adam Smith. The comprehensiveness of this series includes explaining the true nature of capitalism and its evolution.
"Reloaded" is almost pure cinema verite in that fillmmaker/literal voice of Marx Jason Barker turns his camera on the best brains in the world of economics and lets them have their say. These folks nicely dumb things down to the level of a high school class on the subject. The nifty animated segments that feature Marx as Alice of Wonderland fame help in that regard.
The crash course in Marxism includes his general tenet that capitalism relies on exploiting the working class. This relates to the ability of the fat cats to make money depending on profiting from paying people less than the full value of their labor. This, in turn, leads to a discussion on the tricky issue of determining the actual value of anything.
The study of value includes a fascinating discussion on commodities and their relationship with fetishism and prostitution. The bottled water industry is a provided modern example of this.
An especially fun segment has the aforementioned talking heads share their thoughts regarding their preference for capitalism or communism. As expected, their answers fall along party lines. It also relates to the best shot in "Reloaded" that has a 20-something man drinking Coke outside a shrine to communism.
Wonderful comeuppance is delivered via showing that many current Marxists only know a portion of the story. We additionally learn that a third philosophy is more crucial to economic and actual survival than either capitalism or Marxism.
A fun DVD bonus is a fast-paced animated six-minute short titled "Marx for Beginners." This equal homage to Marx and Monty Python explains the key principles that "Reloaded" analyzes in great depth.
The opportunities for capitalists to acquire "Reloaded" in DVD or digital form include the Icarus website.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Reloaded" is encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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