This is a new review section dedicated to screen adaptations based on written words – which can be books, articles, plays or snippets in a newspapers.
The world now knows about the infamous Panama Papers. This is a movie which gives us a peek into the world of money laundering.
The Laundromat begins from the beginning; quite literally from the start of the civilisation, how the barter system started and sustained for a quite a long time (few centuries, give or take).
It worked fine till the time when the earliest humans discovered something called ‘the value of money’. Then as we all know; civilizations after civilizations, emperors and kings alike had their own currencies and thus begin the money exchange system. Banking, forex, bonds, government papers, debentures, stocks, currency swaps etc. are just more modern forms of this elaborate exchange of money – from one hand to other, from one form to other.
This background is presented for us to understand the concept of money laundering, the difference between tax evasions and tax saving; how the miniature island nations are helping the rich people by serving as preferred tax havens by Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca themselves. These infamous partners of the disgraced law firm whose exposure became known as the ‘Panama Papers’.
The movie has four plot lines- the one narrated by the pair of disgraced lawyers as narrators, Ellen Martin and the unfortunate death of her husband Joe, a billionaire named Charles buying loyalties of his daughter and wife & the alleged money laundering by the Chinese communist party officials via British agents. The narrators take the plot lines forward with snippets about how the greed moves people to hide their wealth and so, they are not liable for any of these crimes but just the facilitators.
The blowing off the Panama Paper scandal happens quickly and without much of the hoopla surrounding it. It’s like being at the centre of an earthquake where you feel the earth sinking in but the tremors are felt outward from that centre; in the far flung places. We never get to know who was the whistleblower (maybe just a faint idea?), just get to hear his statement about the revelations.
As the narrators themselves say, as long as there is money in the world; there is no end to the greed of humans. Shutting down one firm and making one island country pay for it, is not the solution; more tighter controls and regulations by the various governments are more critical.
Based on ‘Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite’ by Jake Bernstein; a famous accomplished investigative journalist and adapted for the screen by Scott Z. Burns; this is certainly a gripping story to look at for any layman who has heard about the existence of Black Money. All credit goes to director Steven Soderbergh for presenting the story in its truest form (almost like a documentary film) without much of the over-the-top treatment. The well reputed cast comprising of award winning actors such as Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas.
Recommended watch for anyone who is interested in the journey of money – changing hands or shall we say, changing countries.