As Gordon Gekko returns to the big screen in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, director Oliver Stone tells Stephanie West that capitalism has to be “regulated and moderated”.
In the wake of the financial crisis, Stone insists there was no better time to address the issues in the film.
“2008 was the biggest debacle of all time. The greatest failure in history, the biggest bailout.
“As Gekko has said in the movie, it’s the biggest transfer of wealth in human history – bigger than the pharoahs. It’s basically socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the poor.
The film sees the reprise of Michael Douglas’ Academy Award-winning role as Gekko from the 1987 film Wall Street.
Charlie Sheen also returns in the film, alongside an all-star cast of Josh Brolin, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan and Shia LaBeouf.
Stone, himself the son of a Wall Street banker, says that – despite the recent banking crisis – there is still a place for capitalism
“The system got greedy. No question. The banks made it about themselves… Not for the good of society.” Director Oliver Stone
“Capitalism has to be modified and regulated and moderated to gear itself to work through government for the good of society.”
“We have to keep the capitalist mechanism working because that is the best distribution of market value.
“There’s a cruelty to capitalism. It’s not fair all the time, and I don’t think there’s anything perfect in this world.
“But in the means of what is do-able and practical, then capitalism is the solution. But in moderation and with an emphasis on production.”
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Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps explores the crash of 2008 and the widespread problems it caused.
But Stone insists the answer to the problems with the current financial climate will not be found by taxing the rich.
“It’s going to destroy the incentive for change in society.”
But Stone says some Wall Street bankers have been unfairly castigated for the financial crisis.
“It’s a shame that they’ve gotten a horrible reputation now. The system got greedy. No question. The banks made it about themselves.
“Proprietary trading was where their profits lay. Not for the good of society.”
In making the film, Stone also drew on his childhood experience as the son of a Wall Street trader.
“In the 80s, this became the mantra on Wall Street: profit without production. My Father used to complain about that.
“Wall Street lost its bearings. The banks started playing the game that the hedge funds used to play. And they played it big because they had bigger money.”
He says the film also examines the problems that arise when the financial world relies too much on technology.
“The concept of dealing person to person went out the window. You don’t deal with a banker anymore, you don’t deal with a stockbroker, you deal with an institution.
“It’s depersonalised it. You deal with computers. So it’s really artificial intelligence, and that can go awry as we know.”