Essay Example on The Banker: Audacious Tale of Financial & Racial Empowerment

Introduction

Directed by George Nolfi The Banker (2020) was released as the first major original film by Apple TV in March 2020 amidst a barrage of controversy surrounding a key figure involved in the production of the movie. Despite the sideshows surrounding the drama film, it manages to portray an audacious and thoughtful reenactment of financial and racial empowerment efforts for the African American community from the 1950s and 1960s. Furthermore, the movie is based on true-life events from some of the most challenging times in American history. Supported by highly-rated and charismatic performances from lead actor Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie, the George Nolfi directed film manages to address the race relations in America while providing an entertaining history and finance lessons.

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While some have picked issues with The Banker both thematically and structurally, the film still manages to stand out as a sharp display of cinematic excellence. As we shall describe briefly, the most critical aspects of the film involve its plot and mise en scene, theme, and setting. The nuanced portrayal of the film's setting and conflict brings to life almost impossible-to-dramatize true-life events. The mise en scene and audiovisual works within the movie's scenes make for a captivating reenactment for the movie-goers who are impressed with the little cinematic details - like props and costume - that exude authenticity and pure art.

The Movie's Contextual Analysis

The Banker movie is set in the middle of the 20th Century American society. At this point in American history, the society was deeply divided along racial lines and classism. The central theme of the story, thereby, involves a duo of ambitious black men attempting to penetrate high-class America by acquiring real estate property in white regions. While the purchase of various high-end real estate could be construed as purely materialistic, it presents the central conflict point in the film.

Race relations and differences are brought to bear by the impressive acting of the top three cast members of the film and the precise color and scene arrangement skills of the producers. The film's color works and attention to semiotic details help to recover the 1960s like only a true artist would - as such, the target audience for the film would ideally be American history scholars and civil rights enthusiasts. Semiotic detailing involves a presentation of symbols to assist in perfecting the intended imagery. The wealthy and white real estate businessmen and bankers are portrayed as fancily dressed and in access to proper working conditions.

Various props and costumes in the film act to present symbolic representations of the positions of the competing races of the time. The African-Americans are, for instance, dressed in the film mostly in attire that presented them as servants - drivers, cleaners, chefs, and construction workers. For the historians watching the film, the dress code already acts as a reminder of the inequalities that had rocked the American society just over 50 years ago. Also, the lighting in various households is used to represent the class differences. Bernard Garrett's household is shown to begin as humble and squeezed in dimly lit, crowded apartments. This household setting serves to confirm the class differences among the societal members.

Narrative Structure

The Banker follows the conventional film plots with the three main act categories. At the beginning (act one) - also referred to as the setup - we meet a young Bernard Garrett. Young Garrett gets in trouble with his father for snooping around on white bankers discussing financial dealings. The evidence is already presented of the fear and discrimination inbred in the Black Americans about their white counterparts. Various cultural symbols are imprinted in the society. African-American communities appear to love barbeques and their white counterparts as classy and sophisticated. Years later, Garrett inevitably becomes a real estate player and decides to move from Texas to Los Angeles. His love for real estate introduces him to the American inequality story, which he is now setting out to destroy.

In Los Angeles, Garrett meets a Joe Morris, a carefree club owner who appears to be rich enough to have just a few white friends. Joe's clubhouse and office are livelier - and with some melodic music - lifting the mood of the film considerably. After both Garrett and Joe agree to buy a white bank, they maneuver the audience with comedic segments involving their preparation for the film's main confrontation. They manage to find a white boy who will represent them in the banks - as the black men cannot be allowed to own such expensive property. The setup section of the movie drags way into the second portion.

In the confrontation stages - deep in the second half of the film - the characters have gone back to the weighty central theme of the film - racism and class inequality. The judges find them guilty of owning banks and found guilty of financial irregularities. At this point, the story climaxes. The court scene is beautifully shot with varying camera angles and tense sound effects to fully capture the tense environment as Garrett presents the empowerment and equality speech.

Finally, in the resolution stage, we have presented an ending that would keep grounded in real-life settings. While most films would be tempted to have a happy cinematic conclusion, The Banker attempts to stay realistic. The story thereby ends with the main characters - who had committed financial fraud according to the judge - losing most of their property and spending time in jail. Although they appear to have salvaged a few of the property they amassed, the ending still looks to avoid the fantasy-inclined ending. Such a realistic ending serves to improve the authentic appeal of the film.

Semiotic Analysis

Throughout the film, various symbols and metaphors are used to display the intended themes of the film. The best used semiotic properties in the film are costumes and scene arrangements. As the story came from a real place in American history, the producers made an effort to insert all the small yet essential details that would relive the old times. Cars, cameras used in the videos, binoculars, television sets, telephone, among other small detail, were infused accurately in the various sections of the film to provide an accurate feel of the 1950s and 1960s.

Conclusion

The monumentality of this film in American race and finance equality could not be underestimated. Such monumental thematic underpinnings led Apple TV, a giant global technology company, to pick the movie up for its first major original film release. The momentous film was thereby backed with an enormous marketing budget and remained one of the most anticipated film works of 2019 before its release.

The Banker film of 2020 was released to mixed responses. Some film critics faulted the movie for its overly jargon-ridden, timid, and overdramatized presentation of a factual story from the American Civil rights era. Positive critics, however, praised the film's audacity and artistic humanization of one of the most trying moments of the country. The charming and authentic roles played by the legendary cast member Samuel L Jackson as well as lead actor Anthony Mackie received the most praise among all components of the film. As such, the film looked to have achieved the intended target of empowering the black men of America financially as well as equality.