The China Hustle

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Gareth v A doco that plays out like a crime/heist movie. Does shine a light on the crimes of big businesses and how they get away with it. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/22/23 Full Review Audience Member This documentary purports to expose new financial corruption following the 2008 crisis and what is (or is not) being done about it. It achieves this to some extent, but it makes the error of trying to get us to sympathize with Wall Street investors, specifically short sellers. We are supposed to believe that these short sellers, who profit off of the very schemes that they and the film apparently condemn, are the true crusaders of justice in this story. (There is some great footage of them going to Washington DC and sitting impotently and squirming during a Congressional hearing.) These self-proclaimed "activist investors" say they fight the good fight by taking down fake Chinese companies. They do this by hiring Chinese nationals to be their private investigators and have them uncover this fraud in China at great personal risk. Essentially, wealthy white US men send poor Chinese men to risk their lives in uncovering fraud in Chinese companies. These US men then turn around and make huge profits when they short the stocks of these Chinese companies. The second half of the film doubles down on its Sinophobia and features several interviews about how China is the source of all this corruption and fraud. Never mind that early on in the film, we learn that these schemes are really the work of low-level US investment banks with the cooperation of the big banks and the US government. This film would rather blame China than look at how these schemes mirror the day-to-day flow of capital in just about every business and bank trading on the stock market. We don't see how every new hyped-up tech startup with billions in backing is really just a front for money laundering. We don't see how the 'China hustle' scheme of inflating the value of companies to defraud the public connects to the wider problems of the market. We don't see how this 'hustle' is not some aberration of free trade capitalism but rather a necessary trait of it. In other words, this is really just business as usual. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review quinton w The anti-China overtone was trying a little too hard, since the major problem can be seen in the American lack of regulation and due diligence process. If you can't go to China to verify, why would you be ok to list them for trade and expose your people to the undue risk? Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member When will we ever learn? Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Sets out with a clear narrative and an interesting premise. Sadly then loses direction in the second half until it devolves into rapid cuts and one line slogans, not dissimilar to an obnoxious YouTube creation. If you want to kill time/ need some background noise to your afternoon nap then I'd recommend it. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member I thought it was very informative and honestly jaw dropping!! Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The China Hustle

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