Be First, Be Smarter, or Cheat | Margin Call's Structure EXPLAINED
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- čas přidán 30. 01. 2023
- In our second video, we dive into the line “Be First, Be Smarter, or Cheat” and how it applies to all of Margin Call.
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Video edited in CapCut
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In the emergency senior partners meeting in Margin Call, John Tuld says, "There are three ways to make a living in this business. Be first, be smarter, or cheat." In this video, we break down how this line applies to all of Margin Call. From Eric Dale being fired, to Peter Sullivan discovering the firm's projected losses, to the first meeting scene, to the emergency meeting, to Jared Cohen and Sarah Robertson's conversation in the elevator, to Sarah Robertson being fired by John Tuld, to the parking garage scene, to Will Emerson's speech, to the fire sale scene, to the ending where John says "It's just money. It's made up" - we see how "be first, be smarter, or cheat" is woven throughout the script.
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Margin Call Senior Partners Emergency Meeting
Margin Call First Meeting
Margin Call Peter discovers the firm's projected losses on MBS products
"It's just money. It's made up" - Margin Call
Margin Call - Fire Sale of Mortgage Bonds (Wall Street Investment Bank Trading)
Fire Sale - Margin Call
Eric Dale is fired - Margin Call
Margin Call - Searching for Eric Dale and Sam meets with Will
Margin Call - It didn't seem like much of a choice
Margin Call - Will Emerson talks about the impending financial turmoil
Margin Call - Fire Sale Pep Talk
Margin Call Best Quote by Will Emerson
Margin Call Stanley Tucci Paul Bettany
Margin Call Sarah Robertson fired
Margin Call Will Emerson Jared Cohen parking garage
Margin Call Sarah Robertson Jared Cohen
Margin Call Zachary Quinto as Peter Sullivan
Margin Call Jeremy Irons as John Tuld
Margin Call Paul Bettany as Will Emerson
Margin Call Simon Baker as Jared Cohen
Margin Call Penn Badgley as Seth Bregman
Margin Call Demi Moore as Sarah Robertson
Margin Call Stanley Tucci as Eric Dale
Margin Call Aasif Mandvi as Ramesh Shah
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John represents all 3.
The moment he got the call he is smart enough to understand the situation even without hearing all the fact.
He called all people to a meeting in the middle of the night. Pushing for the fire sale so that he can be first.
He also adapted to the new situation, preparing the firm for the effect after the fire sale, restructuring the firm.
Hire new talent, fire the old and always pushing forward to a new world
And he cheats.
The board meeting was rigged, he already knew what to do and used jared to say the unpopular things so that he can push them.
He rigged the system, doing a firesale of trash. Again he already knew the answer from legal, he just needed them to say the right word so that the board will not intervene.
And last, he sacrificed someone else, to cover his ass. He was part of the discussion '1 year ago', he signed up the plan. But now that everything goes to shit he need someone else to take the blame.
John Tuld is
First
Smarter
and
a Cheater
Exactly. He knew it always since mixing up lower tranches of securities and upping leverage. But what he could have missed is timing of catastrophe
That's how he got to the position where he is
He cheated by knowingly selling worthless assets. He rationalized this by claiming they were selling to willing buyers at fair market prices. Basically selling to suckers. But you're right, they did all three: By being smart enough to realize their assets' true value which is zero and being the first to sell them while lying about their real prices thereby cheating their buyers and initiating market turmoil.
I see no cheating there sorry.
What they did is illegal.
They guessed that in the chaos they would get away with it but it was still illegal.
You can not sell something, with knowledge that it has a flaw, lost value etc, to a buyer without disclosure.
Very rarely, almost like an eclipse, or a comet that passes earth every 100 years or so, I come across a video that unlocks a part of my Brain I did not know I had. Whoever you are, whatever you do, I hope you are much appreciated my friend. This video is the definition of enlightenment. Hats off.
Wow, this is so kind. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment it. I'm glad you liked it!
Well said. I feel the same. This is insightful, original, penetrating. Shows me much about something I’ve pondered plenty. Original and convincing. Superb.
@@BezelMedia It's true. I'm too dazzled by the glamor of the film to notice what you do at this point.
Agreed. Her analysis is brilliant.
First and foremost Thank you! To take the time to do this analysis AND share it …… well is just brilliant.
Hedge fund quant here. The film is a more or less, very sped up version of what actually happened to some of the quants who realised this at Goldman and the like. The piece of the model that tied it all together and allowed you to make CDOs seem very low risk was called the Gaussian Copula. If you break its conditions, things get ugly quite fast
Finn, thank you so much for this informative comment. I will have to read more about the Gaussian Copula. The only "Gaussian" I knew about was Gaussian blur, which is a common effect in graphic design. It looks like it's also named for the mathematician.
Thanks man 👍
@@BezelMedia Good luck. The math is super fucking dense (at least to me) and I have a good amount of calculus and geometric algebra under my belt and at least an understanding of complex analysis. I still find the math they used to be slightly terrifying
I could just suck, there's always that possibility. It's not impenetrable, but it gets super dense real quickly
If you didn’t win a math contest in China then you are no true quant
John Tuld was a puppet master in that entire meeting and the movie. Remember Jared told everyone before the board meeting to say the truth because no one is smart enough. John Tuld will sniff it out. He is that entire phrase in one person.
During board meeting undersells himself on purpose. He asks to be spoken to as if he is a child or golden retriver so that everyone, smart or not in that room would understand the severity of the situation so at the end he can push firesale that he manipulated Jared into suggesting and cleverly so. That phrase is genious. When they stay silent he said BE FIRST even tho he knows that option is out of the window ( or spilled milk under the bridge as he puts it at the very start of the meeting), BE SMARTER an option that only mearly gave them couple of hours, but is also unavailable at this point. So CHEAT is the only thing left to do. And he doesn't want to be the one suggesting it so immediately discards it, while knowing it is the only option left and goes for the one that makes him look good, that be the FIRST while being the option that HE KNOWS has been unavailable for weeks. This phrase is a bait and Jared took it. John completed his objective. Board is scared shittless of the implications explained by Peter, firesale will happen with only one objecting being Sam who, if you look carefully into Kevin Spacey's facial expressions (masterclass acting) is the only one who sees what John is doing (probably because of years they have been working together). You can also notice he is the only one addressing John by his first name. But at that point Sam can not stop it.
The board meeting scene is one to be studied in acting schools . It is a masterclass acting with so many things to unpack done in only a few minutes.
Just a thought that came up re: Jared tells everyone to tell the truth because John will know - what if his motivation for doing so is to make the others uncomfortable with being anything but straightforward making it safer for him not to be.
I really need to watch this movie again, since it's been too long, so sorry if this isn't relevant.
This is a good analysis. And I think that Tuld very carefully sets up the situation and his statement. First, it’s fair to assume that he knows everything that’s going on and has read and absorbed the analysis; he did, in fact, get there through his brains.
So, he has Peter explain the situation to him like he’s a small child, but that’s really for the Board’s benefit. Then he asks Jared and Sara what they suggest, and only goes into his “Be first” speech when they don’t answer. But I think that exchange was carefully modulated between Tuld and Jared to make it seem like the solution to sell everything off was the only possible one, and not just the most opportunistic one. It’s obviously the answer Tuld wants and Jared wants to give, but they have to set it up as the inevitable answer.
I also like how Tuld says that HE doesn’t cheat. It’s not “We don’t cheat,” it’s “I don’t cheat.” I.e., Tuld is fine with cheating, so long as he’s perceived to be above it. This is why Jared is so successful; he’s useful as Tuld’s underhand.
I love the video, the analysis, the detailed and nuanced and intelligent breakdown of all the elements.
And even more, I like your analysis of it.
I’ve watched this movie probably 4-5 times, and have watched the clips here on CZcams dozens of times.
Your description exactly, *exactly* matches mine. That’s exactly how I understood Tuld’s behavior.
He knows perfectly well what he wants to have happen. And he maneuvers everyone in the most fitting way in order to get each of them to commit explicitly to what he needs them to do.
In reality, they all cheat. Tuld, first of all. He’s the one where the buck stops. Also Jared, Ramesh, Sarah; but also Sam and Will.
They all know that what they’re doing is unethical, and thus cheating. They all know that they’re party to the decision and/or implementation of selling assets they *know* are worthless.
And, obviously, their primary incentive is to save their own @sses. And for the bonuses as well.
Something that is easily overlooked in the 1st junior executive meeting that Jared chairs is Sam's words... When Jared stands up to make a call to Tuld, Sam says something along the lines of 'we talked about this...'
The higher ups knew what was coming. Knew the clock was ticking and did nothing to tip their hand early... But when Eric Dales data and a junior in risk management found the key to understanding the data... Tuld realized the gig was up and it was time to cash out... Because he and the Jared already knew this was inevitable.
The engineering background: it is a lot more common that people would think. My first manager in one the largest US bank at the time, in middle office, who had been a trader, told me he really wished he worked on something tangible, not just numbers. He was a fellow mechanical engineer.
As Peter says they're both "just adding up numbers" and the money is considerably better on Wall Street.
the way jared nods and subtly puts his head down when tuld said the 3 ways is awesome, shown us that he probably heard that quote a thousand times before without saying a word.
Margin Call is basically a short film that's been expanded to a 2hr thriller. One of my favourite movies.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I think it’s no coincidence that you found the idea from that scene implicitly in the structure of the movie. There has to be a lot of conscious and high effort thought involved to make such a brilliant film.
I had a feeling Jared would be the cheater. They're all complicit, of course, but he embodies the cheater best, for all the reasons you touched on.
Great analysis.
Thank you so much! I appreciate it
Banks dont get that big by being ethical, lol.
Brilliant in-depth analysis, Bezel Media!! I loved the way you contemplated the tag line, and then connected the characters and scenes while simultaneously correlating their actions and equations; Brilliant use of voice over, video editing, timing, and still shots! Should be 'must see' viewing for any Logic class; this was so enjoyable I can't say enough good things; brilliant, simply stunning! Bravo!
Wow, this is so kind! Thank you, truly! Also, at first I thought you meant Logic the music software and I was confused 😅 Glad you liked it. I'm still learning video editing so thank you for noticing all the details
13:31
This is one of my favorite scenes. You see HR and a senior partner passively trying to backstab each other while the custodian lady is right between them. It symbolizes to me Wall Street's lack of humility towards the millions of people impacted outside their office.
Thanks for your comment! Very true - I felt sad for the custodian in that moment
I agree it's a great scene. Neither of them work in HR however. Sarah is introduced in the first meeting as "chief risk management officer". In other words, the person who's supposed to alert management *before* things start to go sideways. Instead she let her senior risk analyst go. Once Peter reveals they've been dancing in a mine field for the last two weeks, Sarah was toast.
It shows that to people of their "status" someone like the custodian lady is nothing, just like a mop or a rag or a piece of furniture.
Both Sarah and Jared are cheaters. She just isn't as good at it as he is. This scene illustrates what terrible people they both are as they look at the custodian and decide that they can talk in front of her as she's such a non-entity that it's like talking in front of a potted plant or something.
i thought Demi was Chief Analyst, not HR
they need a head to roll at the end, if she chief analyst, it makes sense
hr would not make sense to fire
I would have pegged Jon as doing all three. And, through him, that becomes a comment on what is needed to succeed in the system, and what qualities it promotes - Jon is accomplished at all three things. In the senior partners meeting, when Jared and Sarah hesitate to answer on what to do, Jon pushes them towards a conclusion he seems to expect with his 'be first, be smarter, or cheat' line. He only loses his cool when Sam objects to that course of action. And he obviously knew what the problem was ahead of the meeting, because he explains it to everyone in a neat metaphor almost immediately, and had to understand something of it to call the meeting - so he is first with the plan.
When Jared says 'sell it all' Jon raises a finger and looks pleased, then pulls back both the digit and his expression, and asks Sam 'is that even possible?' Jon knew at least something of the problem, had decided to sell the lot - but wanted some level of deniability that this was always the plan, and to establish some group responsibility so he wouldn't have to face any consequences alone. Jon is cheating - the senior partners meeting is at least 50% just him creating some protection for himself.
And, orchestrating all of the above shows his level of intelligence - he also repeatedly downplays his own smarts, which shows he understands the value of getting others to underestimate him, itself a sign of intelligence or at least strategic understanding and great experience.
My father and I love this film. I forwarded all three of your videos to him. He and I then spent an hour discussing both your amazing analysis and the film itself. Great work!
This makes me so happy! Thank you so much for your comment 😁
I watched Margin Calls so many times the movie is just so well made. If you live in NYC and work in a corporate business the movies gives that feel the work pressure and stress. I dont mean that in a bad way but the stench of corporate business and drama you can feel it in the movie. The movie is just great, great cast, great acting.
This was phenomenal. I absolutely loved the way you broke down the movie's tagline. It was so intriguing and simple to understand.
Thank you so much, that's such a kind thing to say. I wrote this video's script, then trashed it and started over. So I'm glad that paid off! 😅 I've read a lot of discussions about this movie but hadn't seen anyone talk about how this line permeates the whole movie
I’ve watched this movie at least 20 times, I enjoy it very much every time. Thank you for this excellent analysis.
Thank you so much! It's highly rewatchable and I notice something different every time
@@BezelMedia i would not say i enjoyed this movie. or any documentary or film about that time. I was livid, got laid off, 401k worthless but had to cash out to pay bills, pathetic as it was, housing became unbuyable. by the time anyone could get a reasonable morgage the invester types got theirs buying rental properties and investment homes on the cheap and inflated housing again. what i would have rather had was something real out of this happening, rather than the circle fap we got. id rather of seen a movie showing how they demonized the occupy walstreet movement into oblivion, and blamed everything on anonymous.
This was extraordinarily well-thought-out. I love this film, and your perspectives were a pleasure to hear.
Thank you so much! I wanted to make this video for a while, so I'm glad you liked it
I love film, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Margin Call more than any other movie. Every time I watch it, I notice some new line, some new gesture, some new minor detail. I really think it’s one of the most perfectly crafted films I’ve ever seen, but for some reason it’s overlooked.
This really unlocked a new way to look at this movie. I wonder if you could look at Tuld as the embodiment of all three traits. He’s first on Wall Street to order his firm to sell, he’s smart enough to fit together the macro economic situation and the situation of the firm, and he acts incredible unethically by bringing down a huge sector of the economy. He reward all of these traits in his employees at the end of the film too. Dale gets paid out, Sullivan gets promoted, and Cohen avoids getting fired. By acting as the brain of the corporate body he is imbuing these traits into the other members.
I think most of the blame is being put on Sarah Robinson due to her firing Eric. He was the only one who knew something was wrong and was trying to find that missing piece of the puzzle that eventually Peter found out. If Sarah didn't fire Eric, and Eric did NOT send the flash drive to Peter, they would have not known about it that night, or perhaps ever. Peter would have gone to the party and drink. With John caught in such a lucky break and Sarah trying to cover her and Jeremy's tracks, it was not too hard to put the blame on her instead of them both.
Another great video, and this framing makes so much sense. FWIW, my sense that Jared was the one who cheats was cued by his line in the meeting, "Sell it all today." He utters it only after having it spelled out for him by John, and this seems entirely Jared-like. He gets to win without risking anything. Anyway, thank you for this.
He isn't anymore cheating than the rest of the system.
Great analysis. If anything, per your conclusion, it looks like Jared is set to be the most successful person at the firm:
1. Be First - Jared calls Tuld before the first suggestion of doing so, and the conclusion of the 1st meeting. He very likely planned and knew what he was going to do when he first heard about the situation, and he beat everyone else to the chase.
2. Be Smarter - Jared gives Tuld the answer he wants without hesitation - the only acceptable answer from the perspective of what’s best for the firm. It’s almost as though he knows exactly when to speak.
3. Or Cheat - Jared breaks his prior agreement and proceeds to kill Sarah in order to save his own skin.
I’m looking forward to watching more of these videos. Cheers.
Jared is the villain, and gets killed in the end by the CEO. Notice the CEO's relationship with Sam over Jared. Sullivan's promotion at the end of the movie was the death nail for Jared.
This is a great interpretation; I hadn't thought of it. I think the tag line can be slotted onto a couple different aspects of the movie and this is another way it applies.
Thank you so much for your comment - I have some other videos I'm working on
This is amazing analysis!
I already loved this movie, and now you've multiplied my enjoyment.
Without clickbait, flashiness or filler, your insight has meaningfully added to this work of art.
Keep it up!!
The little hand gesture as Jared “asks” Sam to clear out the MBS products off their balance sheet is a classic tell. One hell of a performance by Simon Baker, multilayered and only revealing itself after multiple rewatches. He knew the answer, from the get-go, just like Tuld. He just needed to sell it, which he does masterfully. Like everyone says, he’s a killer.
In the partners meeting, Jared nods his head when CEO John starts his 3 step plan for survival. This implies that Jared has heard this little speech many times before. As John is Jared’s mentor, he knows that John, “…never cheats…”, because he has others do it for him. Jared is the fall guy if things go south, and Jared has even set-up a secondary fall “guy” in Sara to take the blame when this all falls down.
Common in corporate America and even politics, the top guy is protected from knowing the workings under him, like Obama always said in press conferences that he heard of the problem like most Americans, “from the news”, implying he was just an uninformed executive that was guilty of no wrongdoing. John Tuld, has built his own “I heard it from the news” alibi in Jared and hence Sara.
I'd never thought about one could assign a person to each of the three parts of the tagline. I agree with you 100% in terms of who represents which.
What's interesting about this movie is how most characters have subtle touches added to flesh them out. For instance, Seth comes across on purpose as less talented than Peter, but he's also somewhat selfish. He's clearly obsessed with money by always talking about how much people earn. He asks Eric about his own status after the layoffs, he downplays and oversimplifies his own job, he doesn't even know how old Peter is, and he asks Will about his own status on the drive back. Jared is my favourite though. He's heartless and cunning, but he is surprisingly polite. On multiple occasions he says "thank you", like to the copy room guy when he's passing out the report, the valet driver when he has the chat with Will and even to Sam after Jared forgets Seth's name. He also walks ahead of Sarah and opens the door for her. It's such a weird contrast. I also love how Sam basically is beyond giving a crap so much that he can take naps at work and repeatedly mouth off to both his boss and the CEO with no fear. What are they going to do, fire him, vest his options and give him a big severance? Fine by him. I also find it hilarious that his character is shown to have zero technical / financial skills, but is still presented as competent and credible because he's a very good people manager and motivator.
THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST ADVICE EVER!!!! FOR INVESTMENTS, FOR WORK, FOR PERSONAL ISSUES.... THE BEST!!!!!
Great summary!
You need to use 3 of these factors to survive in a long run, because one of them might not be enough.
Eric was first but he was let go anyway. Also, somtimes being smarter might not be enough to win with someone who was first and so on..
I love your channel. As a professor of bachelor's degree in Business Administration, I used this movie to explain topics as management, leadership, responsability, authority, etc. and, suddenly, your channel came up. You are a genius, thanks for all, you got a new suscriber.
I've watched this film and clips several times but never saw that tagline before - thanks for highlighting it.
You're welcome! Thanks for watching
I mention this line regularly at work. It is a good way to think about many pursuits, business, intellectual, etc..
Can we reach 3,000 subscribers?? 🙏
you got me 😶 ... and I'm hard to subscribe to anything. Love your work, please keep doing this.
You'll need to produce many more videos, perhaps one a day, as GV says, to have more subscribers. Your last two videos were absolutely brilliant. Keep producing and be patient. 👊
@@Ribar6 Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. I have some other videos I'm working on :D
Just make a good logo for your youtube channel and you will see. just do it
You got one more. Excellent breakdown. I will take a look at your other videos and recommend this one. Thanks for your work.
Loved the film! Your analysis is great! Keep it coming!
I love this movie and the Big Short. There’s something about each that is special.
I love the atmosphere and intimacy of this movie.
Great job of bringing this to light!!
I always loved this movie and felt that it reminded me of something. I finally figured it out after watching this video. It was the famous "In the pale moonlight" episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9. Lots of smart people, normally "honorable" people forced to do dishonorable things in order to survive.
Really well put together analysis of the story line of this movie. Well done!
Beautiful analysis. Really well done!
Thank you for adding unexpected depths to one of my favorite movies. I appreciate it!!
The quality of your videos is exponentially higher than your present sub count. You are doing your part, and hopefully we can rectify things on our end soon!
This is so kind. Thank you - I really appreciate it.
Great video explaining these details! Subbed
Thanks for the sub!
This left me thinking about the film in a different light. I appreciate you taking the time and sharing.
I am impressed. very good analytical work!
Thank you so much! Glad you liked it!
Great character/structure analysis. As for whether the actual fire sale is a cheat, the arguable difference is that the model is a projection and everyone they are selling to is also in the MBS market and operating off of their own projections which make them think it’s still a good business. The traders and the firm never misrepresent what they are selling. Their “crime”, if any, is one of omission in that they don’t reveal what is motivating them to dump the assets. But, yeah, Jared is a weasel.
Thank you for this comment! That's interesting about the concept of the value being based on projections and not necessarily a defined value.
I agree. They didn't trade on inside knowledge - they traded on their own projections, which any quant could have done. Actually, this gets to the very basis of trading: you have to think you have a better idea of the value of the goods than your counterparty. In most cases it truly is a zero-sum game: "my loss is your gain". So they didn't cheat; they were just first to be smarter than everyone else - assuming they were right. (But even if the assets retained value, not being able to trade them is itself crippling.)
I will say this also: John Tuld is not cheating by authorizing a fire sale of worthless mortgage backed securities - he is simply following the law.
He and the other board members have a fiduciary duty to protect the interests of the principals (the shareholders) and would most likely face civil lawsuits requiring the board of directors (now that they know about the problems with MBS) to compensate (make whole) the shareholders for the losses they incurred had the BOD of directors kept quite and done nothing.
John Tuld and the firm was simply following the rules, following the law, and that cannot be cheating. The laws may be unfair, unethical, immoral, but it is the law.
@@JanBruunAndersen Forgive me, but I'm afraid I have to say you are totally wrong.
First of all, if you want to determine if someone was cheating, it is worth to take a look at the definition. Doing so, you will find that there is no mention of laws or legality, as these examples show: "act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage", "to deprive of something valuable by the use of deceit or fraud", "to behave in a dishonest way in order to get what you want" etc.. As you can see, describing one's actions as 'cheating' can be a true statement, even if they didn't break the law.
The other flaw is that the laws you are referring to were shaped by politicians who had received billions from Wall Street for making laws and (de)regulations the exact way the companies wanted.
And, before you point out that lobbying is legal: just because at some point big companies bribed politicians to make lobbying (a.k.a. bribery) legal, it is still cheating. In other words, paying politicians to act in the interests of the companies - as opposed to, due to their mandate, acting in the interests of the public - might be legal, but always has been, is, and will be cheating.
@@davidkiss1358 - assuming you are right, could I, as a shareholder in Tuld & Co, have a legitimate claim of being cheated out of my money if the company had not cheated?
Great Video!!! we need more!
Thank you so much! Trying to get more made!
Great analysis! I love this film.
Thank you so much!
Excellent explanation!! This is the best movie showing how any business is ran. I’m subscribing!
this was rad, I've seen this movie a zillion times and never thought of that idea, of that line / tagline being assigned to characters. Excellent breakdown.
High quality video! Subbed.
Thank you so much for subscribing! I really appreciate it. I posted another video essay about a TV show (Superman and Lois) - hope you give it a watch
Excellent analysis! I love the way you weaved understanding of the narrative with the complex financial details of the film without losing the plot. Bravo 😊
Brilliantly done!
Thank you so much!
Kind of an econ guy. Love this movie. Never picked up on the first, smart, cheat thing. I think you absolutely nailed it. Great analysis.
Excellent analysis and commentary. Love this film.
Great video...Thanks! Greetings from Belgium.
Thank you so much! I appreciate it
Great analysis, Subbed!
Thank you so much for subscribing! I really appreciate it. I posted another video essay about a TV show (Superman and Lois) - hope you give it a watch
I really want to commend you on making three outstanding videos about a movie which I have watched multiple times starting when it first came out. Absolutely amazing analysis, very interesting, even just well made where the pertinent lines are included in your video.
Please do this for a hundred other films 😉
This was so very interesting. Great Work!!!
A fun analysis to watch. Subscribed.
Love this film but your analysis is brilliant. 👏👏👏
Thank you so much!
Again, very well done. Kudos
Thanks for watching my trilogy of Margin Call videos! I appreciate it so much. I have a few more that I hope to make
@@BezelMedia please make them!
Excellent review! I am a JC Chandor fan and look forward to more of his films to come. Margin Call is really a modern classic morality play…great movie!
Thank you so much! This is the only movie I've seen of his. What other work of his would you recommend? He directed (but didn't write) the Kraven the Hunter movie that's coming out this year. So far I've stayed away from the Sony Spider-Man villain movies, but I may just have to see that one because of him!
Hi BEzel - this video was truly outstanding. A brilliant analysis.
Thank you so much, that's so kind of you.
This is really incredible analysis. Really really well done, I didn’t expect the “cheat” analysis.
Thank you so much. The "cheat" section was the area I spent the most time on while writing and editing, so I'm glad it was unexpected.
Of course Tuld is the real big cheater. Like Mafia boss who has a second in command who gives out instructions, thus insulating the big boss from consequences. Tuld hired Jared to be his second BECAUSE he's a cheater and at the same time to be his last resort fall guy. If shit really hit the fan, Tuld "doesn't cheat" so Jared falls. But Jared is OK with it, because chances are, the consequences will never reach him anyway. You'd need the mafia equivalent of RICO charges to get people at that high level. And until the shit reaches him, which he won't, Tuld NEEDS Jared to catch the bullet, that's why he's never getting fired, unlike Sarah.
Yes, you nailed it. 👍
Let me ask you this: What would you do as an alternative to the fire sale?
What could you do that would not break the law?
I think your final answer will be that the sale was was the only legal option. If that is cheating, then you have a warped idea of what cheating is.
@@JanBruunAndersen The cheating already happened long before the fire sale was proposed. He hired Jared the killer to insulate himself from the evil he wants Jared to do. Jared does exactly what he was hired for, and with false assurances, he convinces Sarah to ignore the early warnings. Nothing changes at the fire sale moment. They were already knowingly selling something worthless for a long time. Tuld walked into that room already knowing whats up and already knowing what the next step in the scam is, because Tuld's plan was always to make every last penny out of this regardless of it being worthless or not.
Selling mortgage packages as a value store when you know it is worthless is clearly cheating. If you don't think selling a broken product is cheating then you have a warped idea of what cheating is.
Great breakdown! Thank you.
Thank you so much!
I love that you are doing a deep dive on this movie - it is one of my favorites - this is the best! :-)
Thank you so much, that's so kind. I have a few other Margin Call videos I plan to make - there's still so much more to talk about with this movie!
That was a fantastic analysis. Seriously very well done
Your analytical skill is amazing. I hope you continue making these videos. Easy subscribe.
Nice video! Snappy ending! :)
thanks. love these scenes
Brilliant analysis, this was a great watch!
Sooo good. Love both videos.i just watched this movie last weekend
Thank you so much! I have a third Margin Call video I posted as well.
Great analysis !! Now I am REwatching the whole movie !!
Thank you so much! Glad you're rewatching it - it will leave Netflix on February 28!!
Thank you very much; enjoyed your breakdown.
Thank you so much!
Great Analysis!
Thank you so much!
That was an impressive breakdown! Well done 🎉
My favorite scene is when Will and Seth are in the Aston Martin driving across the bridge, after talking to Eric Dale when Will explains to Seth how they and what they do is necessary.
In Bentley, not Aston.
A very useful analysis - thanks.
This is an amazing breakdown - rare quality and great vision
This is a really cool way to look at this and one I never even considered. Thanks so much for making this video.
Loved the movie…watched it at least 6 times and this is the first time I’m seeing this perspective…Love it!
Thank you so much! I bet you've noticed tons of things with your re-watches!
Really bright analysis. Fun. Thanks.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. I posted another video essay about a TV show (Superman and Lois) - hope you give it a watch
That was simply a brilliant analysis!
Another trigger for behavior within the firm was the "first, smarter, cheat" environment our charscters expected outwith the firm. Ramesh says at one point spmething to the effect of, "Its only a matter of time before some else figures out what we have, if they havent already." One of the things i like about this film is that every piece of dialogue, or pregnant pause in rhe dialogue, takes you somewhere new, further dimensionalizes a character and/or the story. No waste. Sparse, effective scenes, writing, acting. Fuck Spacey, but yeah, good/great stuff overall.
That was really good!
Love the video! Look forward to your analysis on other movies if that's part of your plan 🎉
Thank you so much! I posted an analysis of a TV show (Superman and Lois) - hope you give it a watch! I have plans for videos on The Big Short, Too Big To Fail, etc. Stay tuned!
This is an amazing break down! My goodness
Excellent Analysis !!! Wow
Great work. Very very good
Thank you very much!
Really liked this was very insightful and of course love the movie!
Thank you so much!
Fantastic breakdown!
Loved the analysis ❤
Thank you so much! I posted another analysis of a TV show (Superman and Lois) - hope you give it a watch!
Excellent analysis
Fantastic video essay.
Thank you so much!
That's an enjoyable and excellent discussion. Tuld sought Jared's advice. Jared gave it. Tuld didn't make the call until he got Jared's endorsement. and as you note, Jared got the idea before Tuld's helicopter even touched down. But Sam was ultimately wrong! Because even the 'disgraced' firms were up and making money within a year or so after 2008. The market forgives.
If only more movies were this well written, the film industry would not be where it is right now.
Great job.
Thank you so much!
That's quite the analysis. Tuld knows the tricks and specify that he doesn't cheat. Instead, he knows how to delegate pretty well.
As for the first and the smartest, there is one who holds the title of the cheater, but only one remains.
Peter has also something that caught my attention. He had a background before entering the company and his values prevail even when he is told otherwise. First of all by expressing his sincere gratitude to his boss after getting fired, being the one that doesn't gossip about each other's money. To find out that, in the end, he is there for the money, accepting the promotion gladly.
And there it is, Tuld has a cheater on the right, a smart guy on the left and we can decide who shall be the first... in this case, himself leading the way.
That was really something. I have seen the film a few times and I just did not see that. Amazing video! You've got a subscriber.
I had heard about Margin Call but I only got around to watching it a few years ago and sadly that was after I had watched The Big Short. And maybe that is why I wasn't really impressed with Margin Call. But with time, I would go back and watch individual scenes every now and then. Eventually I watched the film again and loved it. And now I love both films although they have a different approach (Macro vs. Micro) to similar situations.
Brilliant video