Review - The Shock Doctrine

Making a documentary based on book is tough and it shows here in Matt Whitecross and Michael Winterbottom's The Shock Doctrine.

An investigation of "disaster capitalism", based on Naomi Klein's proposition that neo-liberal capitalism feeds on natural disasters, war and terror to establish its dominance.  

Although Naomi Klein isn't credited in making the film, there is still a lot of her in the film, lending it credence considering the material is straight from her book, however the film seems more like an overview of the book, with a lot of the nitty, gritty details seemingly missing, probably acceptable for a documentary of this type but more like a companion piece to the book, this however doesn't diminish the point of the film.

Running through the history of both shock treatment for psychiatric patients, then onto the radical financial ideas of Milton Friedman, the film marries the two, going through Pinochet's regime, Yeltsin's regime, the war on terror and other disasters, including the GFC - that the unscrupulous companies with government links around the world use to push their own agenda and profits.

Sure, this documentary isn't perfect and it is not a comfortable viewing experience but what does do and what i think is it's purpose - is to make the audience more aware, with a slight rallying cry at the of the film, I guess it is up to the individual to decide what if any action they are going to take.