by Steve Morrissey - moviesteve.com
Halfway through watching this simple but fascinating documentary, by the same team that made the equally eye-opening 97% Owned, a friend turned up. Instead of saying “How are you?” or “Wanna cup of tea?” (I’m writing this in the UK), I said, “God, I’m watching this amazing documentary about economics in Japan and how the authorities there deliberately sabotaged the country’s economy, and the whole 1980s boom and bust was a fix, and the…” and on I burbled.
full review..... @moviesteve.com
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“Princes of the Yen reveals the power of money, finance and central banks. It is a fascinating look at the need for better public understanding of just how much money can affect the world we live in, and the need to ensure that those who have power over money – the banks and central banks – are watched very closely.”
Ben Dyson
Founder, Positive Money
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“Blows open the widely held consensus that ‘independent’ central banks are a force for economic good. Based on the best-selling book by economist Richard Werner and using extensive archival material and sober narration, this film shines a light on to the fundamentals of our economic system – that is who creates money and for what – in a way that very few others have managed, or dared.”
Josh Ryan-Collins
Economist and author of “Where Does Money Come From?, New Economics Foundation
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by Top Documentary Films
"Central banks have the power to create economic, political and social change. This is how they do it." This passage opens the film, and that is precisely what non-partisan political and socio-economic documentarian group QueuePolitely puts under the microscope in the Princes of the Yen. Based on a book by Professor Richard Werner and directed by Michael Oswald, the film aims to break down and simplify the ways in which central banks influence the world we live in.
The film opens on archival footage from the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and works to set the stage for what would become an American-led occupation of post-war Japan where Democracy was imposed upon the nation "as if they'd never heard of it."
full review..... @topdocumentaryfilms.com
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by Jesse's Café Américain
While I cringed at some of the early parts of the film and the mid-century American attitudes towards the Japanese, even if it was in the aftermath of a long and viciously fought war, I think this documentary provides some valuable insights into the evolution of the modern economy that is Japan. I direct your attention to the things that we are often saying about different peoples today.
full text.... @ jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com
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By Anthony Migchels
Two films expose in no uncertain terms the core issue of our time: how the financial system has come to dominate the globe by centralizing wealth and power through Usury, the manipulation of the volume of money, and centralized control of credit allocation.
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Still Report
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By TheYogiRock
In this outstanding documentary, loosely based on Professor Richard Werner‘s book with the same title, we can not only better understand the post WWII japanese economic history, but also comprehend how “independent” central banks were introduced in Asia, first in Japan with the legal modifications induced by the 1989-1990 japanese stock market crash and, later, with the 1997 Asian Crisis, also in the “tiger” economies of South East Asia.
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by Simeon C. Roberts - filmgods.co.uk
Queuepolitely return to our screens with for the first time since 97% percent Owned with the highly anticipated Princes of the Yen.
Richard Werner’s book is adapted for the screen and explores Japan’s post war economy. The documentary pays particular interest to the power of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan analysing their relationship with one another and the public.
The documentary combines first account interview footage with archived videos to speculate upon the motivations of the policy makers and bankers and the conditions and implications this had not only to Japanese society but the wider world. In a world that is so dominated by economics and monetary policies, it becomes evidently clear through this film how ordinary citizens are detrimentally affected by those who we elect to govern us, and who we trust to supposedly put our best interest at the forefront of their decision making.
Adapting books into films is never an easy thing to do, it requires skill and a mastery of the art that is filmmaking. As with 97% Owned, Queue Politely have successfully navigated treacherous waters. Princes of the Yen is a powerful and provocative film that possesses visual aesthetics that are rarely seen in the indie film world.
Overall, the documentary succeeds in delivering a thought provoking and engaging narrative that permeates deep into your subconscious. By the time the end credits are rolling you will feel enthused to not only consider our own economic conditions but also to even dare to contemplate an alternative economic structure. Princes of the Yen is a core learning resource for us, the proletariat, who seek to understand the framework of a deficit spending society and the implications this has not only on us but on our future generations.
So what’s the alternative you might ask, well I don’t have that answer but at least we have a starting point!