The programmers at the Cinémathèque de la Ville de Luxembourg have always enjoyed a good sense of humour and timely reaction to current events. That is clearly evident in a series of four films to be screened at the institution’s Salle Vox (place du Théâtre) in November. Under the title "Krach! Quand le cinéma fait sauter la banque", the quartet – “It’s A Wonderful Life”, “Trading Places”, “Wall Street” and “American Psycho” - focuses on the greed and immorality of the worst breed of Wall Street players and power-hungry bankers.

But, this being Hollywood, there are also decent heroes who resist temptation and stand up to the corrupt and the dishonest. The trouble is that, apart from James Stewart’s turn as George Bailey in Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life”, none are remembered as well as the “villains” of the piece.

Certainly anyone who has seen Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street” will recognise Gordon Gekko as the epitome of Wall Street’s mid-1980s excesses. Brilliantly portrayed by Michael Douglas, Gekko is an iconic Hollywood villain, though at least his immorality is limited to business.

Patrick Bateman, in Mary Harron’s American Psycho, on the other hand, buys so deeply into the whole “Masters of the Universe” ethos that he believes himself to be above any sort of law and commits murder most foul seemingly at will and without compunction. The villains in “Trading Places” and “It’s A Wonderful Life” represent the other end of the scale to Bateman and Gekko. The Duke brothers and Henry Potter, respectively, are spiritual kin, old establishment money whose contempt of the ordinary folk has been nurtured and bred by generations of hereditary privilege.

Unfortunately, in “Wall Street”, Stone’s criticism, what respected critic Roger Ebert called “an attack on an atmosphere of financial competitiveness so ferocious that ethics are simply irrelevant”, was systematically misinterpreted by many ambitious young players in the world’s financial capitals. They gleefully adopted Gekko’s “greed is good” credo, placing their faith in a system that worshipped profit and winning the deal to the detriment of any other considerations.

For, despite the fact that Gekko has accumulated wealth that allows him and his family to enjoy a sumptuous lifestyle, he does not really seem to appreciate his limousine, luxury mansion, fine clothes or art collection. The same can be held true for the “heroes” of the other films.

“American Psycho’s” Patrick Bateman spends almost obscene amounts of money on bespoke tailoring, luxury toiletries and fine dining, but the fact that he can list the designer labels among his lavish possessions appears to be more important than any appreciation of the luxuries themselves. We are given less insight into the lifestyles of Potter and the Duke brothers, but they belong to a generation that was not so ostentatious – the elderly gentlemen do not spend money frivolously, rather use it to anchor their power and place at the top of society.

The programme is well-chosen because the films show how different genres – from sentimental drama to adventure comedy – can deliver pretty much the same basic message. Capitalism, the directors are saying, is a wonderful thing, but only if it ultimately benefits the common good. Those who abuse the system for their own gain, or treat it as a playing field for the machismo power games, will get their comeuppance.

 

"Krach! Quand le cinéma fait sauter la banque"Cinémathèque de la Ville de LuxembourgSalle Vox (place du Théâtre)3 to 24 Novemberwww.cinematheque.lu.