Surplus (film)
Surplus: Terrorized Into Being Consumers is a
2003 Swedish documentary about
consumerism and
anti-consumerism, directed by
Erik Gandini and
Johan Söderberg. It opens with footage of the protests at the
27th G8 summit in
Genoa, and is sown together around the words of
anarcho-primitivist John Zerzan, who claims that destroying property - as opposed to attacking people - is necessary and is not violence. A lot of other people, apart from Zerzan, appear in the documentary, including the person who may be his diametrical opposite,
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
The documentary relies heavy on the of fast-paced audiovisual collage-techniques and music, resembling the
MTV style of video- and television marketing, the result of this is that the documentary is more impressionistic than purely reporting or fully studying the argument or set of arguments. Another characteristic is its arch use of lip-synching, for example
George Bush speaking for
Adbusters, or
Fidel Castro screaming Steve Ballmer's words "I love this company. Yeah!".
People appearing in the documentary
*
John Zerzan,
Anarcho-primitivist writer, author of
Elements of Refusal (1988),
Future Primitive (1994),
Against Civilization: A Reader (1998) and
Running on Emptiness (2002)
*
George W. Bush, President of the United States
*
Fidel Castro, leader of Cuba
*
Kalle Lasn, from
Adbusters (a group that monitors advertising)
*
Matt McMullen,
Realdoll sex-doll manufacturer, USA
*
Steve Ballmer, CEO of
Microsoft since 2000
*
Bill Gates, Chairman of the Board, Chief Software Architect of
Microsoft*Tania, from Havana, Cuba
*Mirta Muñiz, Cuba ("toothpaste lady")
*
Svante Tidholm, from Stockholm Sweden, wealthy web-designer for Spray (Swedish internet company), author of autobiographical novel,
Loser (Wahlström & Widstrand, 1998, in Swedish)
Music
*
Gotan Project*
Tosca*
Aphrodelics*
Marc O´Sullivan (The Might Quark)
*
Johan Söderberg,
David ÖsterbergLocations
Genoa (Genova), Italy (G8 summit 2001) / Shanghai, China (Stock Exchange) / Alang, India (metal reclaiming) / USA / Cuba / Hungary / Sweden / Canada
Additional information
Runtime: Sweden:54 min / Argentina:54 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)Country: SwedenLanguage: Swedish / Spanish / EnglishColor: ColorCertification: Singapore:NC-16 / Argentina:13
*
Official website
