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'{{Infobox film | name = The Corporation | image = Movie_poster_the_corporation.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = {{plainlist| * [[Mark Achbar]] * [[Jennifer Abbott]]}} | producer = {{plainlist| * Mark Achbar * [[Bart Simpson (filmmaker)|Bart Simpson]]}} | writer = {{plainlist| * [[Joel Bakan]] * [[Harold Crooks]] * [[Mark Achbar]]}} | narrator = Mikela J. Mikael | music = Leonard J. Paul | cinematography = {{plainlist| * Mark Achbar * Rolf Cutts * Jeff Hoffman * Kirk Tougas}} | editing = Jennifer Abbott | studio = Big Picture Media Corporation | distributor = [[Zeitgeist Films]] | released = {{Film date|2003|09|10|[[Toronto International Film Festival]]|2004|01|16}} | runtime = 145 minutes | country = Canada | language = English | budget = | gross = $4.84 million<ref name="numbers">{{cite web|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Corporation-The|title=The Corporation (2004) - Financial Information|work=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]]|access-date=11 May 2018}}</ref> }} '''''The Corporation''''' is a 2003 Canadian [[documentary film]] written by [[University of British Columbia]] law professor [[Joel Bakan]] and filmmaker [[Harold Crooks]], and directed by [[Mark Achbar]] and [[Jennifer Abbott]]. The documentary examines the modern [[corporation]]. Bakan wrote the book ''The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power'' during the filming of the documentary. A sequel film, ''[[The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel]]'', was released in 2020.<ref>Pat Mullen, [http://povmagazine.com/blog/view/inconvenient-indian-new-corporation-no-ordinary-man-rep-canadian-docs-in-ti "‘Inconvenient Indian’, ‘New Corporation’, ‘No Ordinary Man’ Rep Canadian Docs in TIFF Line-up"]. ''[[Point of View (magazine)|Point of View]]'', July 30, 2020.</ref> ==Synopsis== The documentary shows the development of the contemporary business corporation, from a [[Legal person|legal entity]] that originated as a government-chartered institution meant to affect specific public functions, to the rise of the modern commercial institution entitled to most of the legal rights of a person. The documentary concentrates mostly upon corporations in [[North America]], especially in the United States. One theme is its assessment of [[corporate personhood]], as a result of [[Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co.|an 1886 case]] in the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] in which a statement by [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[Morrison Waite]]<ref group="nb">"The court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]], which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does." However, the Supreme Court decision did not itself address the matter of whether corporations were "persons" with respect to the Fourteenth Amendment; in [[Chief Justice Waite]]'s words, "we avoided meeting the question". (118 U.S. 394 (1886) – According to the official court Syllabus in the ''[[United States Reports]]'')</ref> led to corporations as "persons" having the same rights as human beings, based on the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]. Topics addressed include the [[Business Plot]], where in 1933, General [[Smedley Butler]] exposed an alleged corporate plot against then-U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]; the [[tragedy of the commons]]; [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]'s warning people to beware of the rising [[military–industrial complex]]; economic [[externality|externalities]]; suppression of an investigative news story about [[Bovine Growth Hormone]] on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] affiliate television station [[WTVT]] in [[Tampa, Florida]], at the behest of [[Monsanto]]; the invention of the soft drink [[Fanta]] by [[The Coca-Cola Company]] due to the trade embargo on [[Nazi Germany]]; the alleged role of [[IBM]] in the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]] (see [[IBM and the Holocaust]]); the [[Cochabamba Water War|Cochabamba protests of 2000]] brought on by the [[privatization]] of a municipal [[water supply]] in [[Bolivia]]; and in general themes of [[corporate social responsibility]], the notion of [[limited liability]], the corporation as a psychopath; and the debate about corporate personhood. Through vignettes and interviews, ''The Corporation'' examines and criticizes corporate business practices. The film's assessment is affected via the diagnostic criteria in the [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders|''DSM-IV'']]; [[Robert D. Hare]], a [[University of British Columbia]] psychology professor and [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] consultant, compares the profile of the contemporary profitable business corporation to that of a clinically diagnosed [[Psychopathy|psychopath]] (Hare has since objected to the manner in which his views are portrayed in the film; [[The Corporation (2003 film)#Controversy|see below]].). ''The Corporation'' attempts to compare the way corporations are systematically compelled to behave with what it claims are the ''DSM-IV''{{'}}s symptoms of psychopathy, e.g., the callous disregard for the feelings of other people, the incapacity to maintain human relationships, the reckless disregard for the safety of others, the deceitfulness (continual lying to deceive for [[Profit (economics)|profit]]), the incapacity to experience [[guilt (emotion)|guilt]], and the failure to conform to [[social norm]]s and respect the [[law]]. ===Interviews=== The film features interviews with prominent corporate critics such as [[Noam Chomsky]], [[Charles Kernaghan]], [[Naomi Klein]], [[Michael Moore]], [[Vandana Shiva]], and [[Howard Zinn]], as well as opinions from [[chief executive officer]]s such as [[Ray Anderson (entrepreneur)|Ray Anderson]] (from [[Interface, Inc.]]), business guru [[Peter Drucker]], Nobel laureate economist [[Milton Friedman]], and [[think tank]]s advocating free markets such as the [[Fraser Institute]]. Interviews also feature Dr. [[Samuel Epstein (physician)|Samuel Epstein]], who was involved in a lawsuit against [[Monsanto]] for promoting the use of Posilac ([[trade name]] for recombinant [[Bovine somatotropin]]) to induce more milk production in [[dairy cattle]], and [[Chris Barrett (filmmaker)|Chris Barrett]] who, as a spokesperson for [[First USA]], was the first corporately sponsored college student in America.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/19/nyregion/and-now-a-word-from-their-cool-college-sponsor.html|title= And Now a Word From Their Cool College Sponsor|work=www.nytimes.com |date= July 19, 2001 |access-date=2017-05-11}}</ref> [[Joel Bakan]], the author of the award-winning book ''The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power'', writes: {{blockquote|The law forbids any motivation for their actions, whether to assist workers, improve the environment, or help consumers save money. They can do these things with their own money, as private citizens. As corporate officials, however, stewards of other people’s money, they have no legal authority to pursue such goals as ends in themselves – only as means to serve the corporations own interests, which generally means to maximize the wealth of its shareholders. Corporate social responsibility is thus illegal – at least when its genuine.|Joel Bakan, ''The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power'' <ref>Bakan, The Corporation, Constable, 2004, p.37</ref>}} ==Release== ===Box office=== ''The Corporation'' grossed around $3.5 million in North American box office receipts and had a worldwide gross of over $4.8 million,<ref name="numbers" /> making it the second top-grossing film for its U.S. distributor, [[Zeitgeist Films]].<ref>{{cite web| url= https://boxofficemojo.com/studio/chart/?studio=zeitgeist.htm |website=Box Office Mojo|title= Zeitgeist Studios}}</ref> It took the place of [[Manufacturing Consent (film)|''Manufacturing Consent'']] as the top-grossing feature documentary ever to come out of Canada. ===Versions=== ====TVO version==== The extended edition made for [[TVOntario]] (TVO) separates the documentary into three one-hour episodes: *"'''Pathology of Commerce'''": About the pathological self-interest of the modern corporation. *"'''Planet Inc.'''": About the scope of commerce and the sophisticated, even covert, techniques marketers use to get their brands into our homes. *"'''Reckoning'''": About how corporations cut deals with any style of government - from [[Nazi Germany]] to [[despotism|despotic]] states today - that allow or even encourage [[sweatshop]]s, as long as sales go up. ====DVD version==== In April 2005, the film was released on [[DVD]] as a two-disc set that includes following:<ref>{{cite web| website=TheCorporation.com| url=http://www.thecorporation.com/index.cfm?page_id=57| title=About the DVD| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090514010442/http://www.thecorporation.com/index.cfm?page_id=57| archive-date=2009-05-14}}</ref> * Disc 1: the film, two tracks of directors' and writer's commentary, 27 minutes of Q&As with the filmmakers, 17 minutes of deleted scenes (not including a hidden clip of the "[[Milton Friedman]] Choir" singing "An Ode To Privatization"), 39 minutes of [[Janeane Garofalo]] interviewing [[Joel Bakan]] on [[Air America Radio]]'s ''[[The Majority Report]]'', 7 minutes of [[Katherine Dodds]] on [[grassroots]] marketing, theatrical trailer, subtitles in three languages (English, French, Spanish), and descriptive audio. * Disc 2: 165 unused interview clips and updates sorted by both interviewee ("Hear More From...") and topic ("Topical Paradise"). "Related Film Resources", which is one of the topics in "Topical Paradise", includes trailers for 14 other documentary films and a three-minute UK animated film. In 2012, a new Canadian educational version was released for high school students. This "Occupy Your Future" version is exclusively distributed by Hello Cool World, who were behind the branding and grassroots outreach of the original film in four countries. This version is shorter and breaks the film into three parts. The extras include interviews with [[Joel Bakan]] on the [[Occupy movement]], [[Katherine Dodds]] on social branding, and two short films from [[Annie Leonard]]'s ''[[The Story of Stuff]]'' project.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} ===Streaming=== From 2017 until 2022, the film was fornerly available for streaming online on [[Canada Media Fund]]'s Encore+ [[YouTube]] channel.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://playbackonline.ca/2020/08/19/encore-hits-25m-views-and-100k-subs|title=Encore+ hits 25M views and 100K subs|website=Playback|date=August 19, 2020|accessdate=January 21, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|url=https://cmf-fmc.ca/news/encore-youtube-channel-reaches-100000-subscribers-and-25m-views-milestones|title=ENCORE+ YOUTUBE CHANNEL REACHES 100,000 SUBSCRIBERS AND 25M VIEWS MILESTONES|publisher=Canada Media Fund|date=August 18, 2020|accessdate=January 21, 2024}}</ref> The film is also available for digital purchase on [[Amazon Prime Video]] and [[iTunes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Corporation-Jane-Akre/dp/B002ZVIKO0|title=Watch The Corporation|website=Amazon|access-date=January 22, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-corporation/umc.cmc.6p6c65qbir0c61ar4aquzv8s5|title=The Corporation|website=Apple TV|access-date=January 22, 2024}}</ref> ==Reception== === Critical reception === Film critics gave the film generally favorable reviews. The review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reported that 90% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 111 reviews with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''The Corporation'' is a satisfyingly dense, thought-provoking rebuttal to some of capitalism's central arguments."<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/corporation/ |title = The Corporation (2004) |access-date = March 13, 2018 |publisher=[[CBS Interactive]] |work= [[Rotten Tomatoes]]}}</ref> [[Metacritic]] reported the film had an average score of 73 out of 100, based on 28 reviews.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-corporation |title = The Corporation Reviews |access-date = March 13, 2018 |publisher=[[CBS Interactive]] |work=[[Metacritic]]}}</ref> In ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', Dennis Harvey praised the film's "surprisingly cogent, entertaining, even rabble-rousing indictment of perhaps the most influential institutional model for our era" and its avoidance of "a sense of excessively partisan rhetoric" by deploying a wide range of interviewees and "a bold organizational scheme that lets focus jump around in interconnective, humorous, hit-and-run fashion."<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117922025.html?categoryid=31&cs=1 |title=The Corporation, review |author= Harvey, Dennis |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date= October 1, 2003}}</ref> In the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'', [[Roger Ebert]] described the film as "an impassioned polemic, filled with information sure to break up any dinner-table conversation," but felt that "at 145 minutes, it overstays its welcome. The wise documentarian should treat film stock as a non-renewable commodity."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040716/REVIEWS/407160302/1023|title=The Corporation, review |author=Ebert, Robert |author-link=Roger Ebert |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|date= July 16, 2004}}</ref> ''[[The Economist]]'' review, while calling the film "a surprisingly rational coherent attack on capitalism's most important institution" and "a thought-provoking account of the firm", calls it incomplete. It suggests that the idea for an organization as a psychopathic entity originated with [[Max Weber]], in regards to [[government]] [[bureaucracy]]. The reviewer remarks that while the film weighs heavily in favor of [[public ownership]] as a solution to the issues depicted, it fails to acknowledge the magnitude of evils committed ''in the name'' of public ownership, such as those of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] in the former [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=The lunatic you work for |work=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/business/2004/05/06/the-lunatic-you-work-for |access-date=2023-04-23 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> === Remarks by interview subject === Psychiatrist [[Robert D. Hare]] is interviewed in the film, and his [[Psychopathy Checklist]] is used to characterise behavior of corporations as [[psychopathic]] in the documentary. Hare's comments used in the film are that:<ref>{{cite AV media |people= |date=2003 |title=The Corporation |type= |language= |url= |format= |time=40:33 |location= |publisher=|transcript=The Corporation – Feature Transcript: Part 1|transcript-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808133136/http://hellocoolworld.com/files/TheCorporation/Transcript_finalpt1%20copy.pdf|id= |isbn= |oclc= |quote= |ref=}}</ref>{{bq|One of the questions that comes up periodically is to what extent could a corporation be considered to be psychopathic. And if we look at a corporation as a legal person, that it may not be that difficult to actually draw the transition between psychopathy in the individual, to psychopathy in a corporation. We could go through the characteristics that define this particular disorder, one by one, and see how they might apply to corporations...They would have all the characteristics, and in fact, in many respects, the corporation of that sort is the proto-typical psychopath.}} In his book ''[[Snakes in Suits]]'' (2006; co-written with Paul Babiak), Hare writes that ":<ref>{{cite book |author= Babiak, Paul & Hare, Robert D. |date=2007|title= Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work |publisher= HarperCollins|isbn= 978-0061147890|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-_urXom4ykC&q=the+corporation&pg=PA95 |page= 95}}</ref>{{bq|Although the producers of the documentary stated that they used the term psychopath merely as a metaphor for the most egregious corporate entities, it is apparent that they had in mind corporations in general...To refer to ''the'' corporation as psychopathic because of the behaviors of a carefully selected group of companies is like using the traits and behaviors of the most serious high-risk criminals to conclude that ''the'' criminal (that is, every criminal) is a psychopath. If [common diagnostic criteria] ''were'' applied to a random set of corporations, some might apply for the diagnosis of psychopathy, but most would not.}} However, in his monologue in The Corporation and the transcript of the interview, Hare, in addition to pointing out differences between corporations, clearly uses generalized terms with regard to numerous of his characterizations of psychopathy applying to corporations. He states, for example:<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.thecorporation.com/index.cfm?page_id=314 | website= The Corporation | title= Transcripts: The Nature of the Corporation | url-status= dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031134637/http://hellocoolworld.com/media/TheCorporation/TheNatureOfTheCorporation.pdf | archive-date= October 31, 2014 }}</ref>{{bq|A psychopath doesn’t accept responsibility for his or her own behaviour. Usually diffusion of responsibility is the name of the game for the psychopath. Somebody else made me do it, it wasn’t my fault, it was fate. And I’m not really responsible. Corporations would do this almost routinely I would imagine.}} ==Awards== The film won or was nominated for over 26 international awards <ref>[http://www.thecorporation.com/film/about-film About the film - The Corporation]</ref> including winning the [[List of Sundance Film Festival award winners#2004|World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary]] at the [[Sundance Film Festival]] in 2004, a Special Jury Award at the [[International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam|International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)]] in 2003 and a [[Genie Award|Genie Award - Documentary]] in 2005.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379225/awards?ref_=tt_ql_op_1|title=Awards IMdB|publisher=www.imdb.com |access-date=2017-05-11}}</ref> == See also == * [[Corporatocracy]] * [[Empire (Hardt and Negri book)|''Empire'' (Hardt and Negri book)]] (2000) * [[Evil corporation]] * [[Manufacturing Consent (film)|''Manufacturing Consent'' (film)]] (1992), co-directed by Mark Achbar * ''[[Manufacturing Consent]]'' (1988), the book upon which the eponymous film was based * [[Psychopathy in the workplace]] ==Notes== {{Reflist|group=nb}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{wikiquote}} * {{Official website|http://www.thecorporation.com}} * {{cite web| url= http://tvo.org/programs/the-corporation |website=TVO.org |publisher=[[TVOntario]] |title=''The Corporation'' site}} * {{AllMovie title|293083|The Corporation}} * ''[https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-corporation The Corporation]'' at [[Metacritic]] * {{mojo title|id=corporation|title=The Corporation}} * {{IMDb title|id=0379225|title=The Corporation}} * {{Rotten Tomatoes|id=corporation|title=The Corporation}} * {{cite web| url=http://www.airamericaplace.com/archive.php?mode=display&id=280| website=Air American Place| title=Interview with Joel Bakan| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050111144919/http://www.airamericaplace.com/archive.php?mode=display&id=280| archive-date=2005-01-11}} * {{cite news|work=Work Magazine|url=http://work-magazine.com/articles/issue1/issue_1_everything_about_corporations.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051216015659/http://work-magazine.com/articles/issue1/issue_1_everything_about_corporations.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2005-12-16|title=Interview with Bakan and Achbar}} * {{YouTube|xa3wyaEe9vE|trailer for the documentary}} with link to the full film in Comments ===Downloads=== * {{Internet Archive film|id=The_Corporation_|name=The Corporation (and bonus interview)}} * {{cite web| url= https://archive.org/details/kpu101 |website=Internet Archive|title=Entire soundtrack, available for free download |author=Paul, Leonard J. Paul}} {{ACCT Best Documentary Film}} {{Food industry criticism}} {{Authority control}} {{Portal bar|Companies|Film}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Corporation, The}} [[Category:2003 films]] [[Category:2003 documentary films]] [[Category:2004 books]] [[Category:Anti-corporate activism]] [[Category:Anti-modernist films]] [[Category:Canadian documentary films]] [[Category:Canadian non-fiction books]] [[Category:Documentary films about business]] [[Category:Documentary films about economics]] [[Category:Documentary films about environmental issues]] [[Category:Documentary films about globalization]] [[Category:Documentary films about politics]] [[Category:English-language Canadian films]] [[Category:Best Documentary Film Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners]] [[Category:Sundance Film Festival award-winning films]] [[Category:Films directed by Jennifer Abbott]] [[Category:2000s English-language films]] [[Category:2000s Canadian films]] [[Category:English-language documentary films]]'