Generation Wealth [Ultra HD]

Generation Wealth [Ultra HD] is a 2018 documentary that leaves an indelible mark with its ruthless dissection of society's relentless obsession with wealth, status, and materialism. The movie is the visual culmination of a decades-long investigation by award-winning photographer and filmmaker, Lauren Greenfield. Her work probes the new American dream, and the human costs of late-stage capitalism, narcissism, and pop culture's influence on societal values.

In this ruthless, illuminating, and visually captivating documentary, Greenfield skillfully weaves together several narrative threads, combining interviews, archival footage, photographs, and storytelling techniques. The end-product is a cautionary tale of distorted values and a society losing its moral compass in a sea of glitz, glamor, and relentless pursuit of wealth.

The documentary opens with Greenfield's own background, including her upbringing in Venice Beach, California. This privileged environment, combined with her awareness of wealth inequality, provides a distinct lens through which Greenfield views and interprets the society around her. The film then routes us through an engaging journey from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, Atlanta, Moscow, and Dubai, tracing the inflation of the so-called 'American Dream'. The protagonists of Generation Wealth are individuals from all walks of life, reaching distant corners of the world, whose pursuit of luxury and affluence has led them down paths of destruction, corruption, and moral bankruptcy.

The interviews therein are notably candid and strikingly honest. Flawed and human, these characters reveal the real-life toll of an infrastructure that prioritizes wealth above everything else. We see ex-Wall Street bankers, a bus-driver turned porn magnate, a beauty queen turned convict, a toddler beauty pageant contestant, and a host of other compelling figures. The concurrent narrative of the 2008 financial crisis heightens the tension and underscores the foreboding and traps of materialism and celebrity culture.

An unexpected player in the film is Bret Easton Ellis, author of “American Psycho.” He provides a critical, though somehow resigned, perspective on our culture's fascination with affluence and exhibitionism. His insights into the notion of wealth as a measure of success serves as a powerful counter-voice throughout the documentary.

Young Paris Cronin (only 10 when the film was shot) draws attention to the dangers of early exposure to wealth and consumerism. Greenfield skillfully uses his story and the other children in the documentary to draw attention to the intergenerational transmission of values and beliefs. The film painstakingly brings to light the dark side of a culture of conspicuous consumption, its negative impact on future generations, and its implications on our long-term well-being.

The documentary is equally an exploration of Greenfield's own fascinations and the evolution of her career. Her photojournalistic background, celebrated books, ('Fast Forward,' 'Girl Culture,' and 'Thin'), and two previous documentaries ('Thin' and 'The Queen of Versailles') have acclaimed her as a keen observer of society's obsession with excess and beauty. In Generation Wealth, Greenfield makes use of her own photographs, personal narrative, and self-reflective analysis to enrich the project and provide deeper insights into this worldwide phenomenon.

Critically, the film also draws attention to pressing issues of gender dynamics and societal expectations of women. The film deals with wealth as a representative of power and how society perceives women in power. It delves into the pressure women face to attain conventional beauty standards and wealth and the damaging and often dangerous methods they employ to achieve them.

What makes Generation Wealth immensely engaging is its multifaceted endeavor – it is not simply a critique of the rich and the damage wealth can cause. It turns a mirror on society as a whole, forcing us all to confront our own obsession with wealth and status, the irrational drive to 'keep up with the Joneses,' and the ultimate impact on our values, families, and well-being.

Through personal narratives, images that range from the ordinary to the grotesque, and brutally honest storytelling, Generation Wealth presents a society fixated on excess and spectacle. This mesmerizing documentary, visually stunning and profoundly disquieting, invites viewers to question and contemplate the price of wealth and the deception of a toxic, success-at-any-cost culture. A compelling commentary on our times, Generation Wealth [Ultra HD] is sure to leave viewers with much to ponder long after the credits roll.