According to “Too Big to Fail”, prosecution of even one of those banks could have a seismic impact on the global economy, not to mention politicians’ electoral campaigns. Since then, however, the number of banks in the United States has dropped while the size of major banks has grown exponentially and taken greater control of our global economy. Notably, white collar crime prosecution used to be more prolific in the United States - after the Savings and Loan Scandals of the ’80s, 839 individuals were convicted of fraud. The film’s title is the obverse of the infamous “Too Big to Fail” doctrine, which has been used to justify the US criminal justice system’s failure to criminally indict Wall Street banks after the 2008 financial crisis. But lost in all this sensationalist bluster is the more pervasive, ugly truth about America’s legal system : it’s an aggregation of thousands of quieter trials in which there are no dramatic piques where a tragically inert storyline of unnecessary “zero sum” adversity lumbers to an unsatisfactory ending.ĭirector Steve James’ ( Hoop Dreams, 1994) most recent documentary Abacus: Small Enough To Jail - which examines the Manhattan DA’s Office’s relentless prosecution of the Sung family’s Abacus Federal Savings Bank in Chinatown, New York - is successful at highlighting this unfortunate state, even if it means foregoing a compelling dramatic arc to do so. It’s not the wonderful life the Sung family were planning on, but the Abacus Federal Savings Bank story is a different kind of American dream.Television shows and movies capture the law as a highlight reel of spectacular trials which feature righteous winners and benighted losers. Like George Bailey, and the Cartwright family from “Bonanza” and other fictitious families, the real-life story of the Sungs is one of loyalty and adhering to their code, even as they face losing everything. ![]() ![]() (In one of the more cinematic real-life touches, youngest daughter Chanterelle worked for the district attorney who prosecuted the Sungs, before quitting to become a legal bulldog for her family.) ![]() The Sungs raised three girls who are attorneys, labeled correctly in the documentary as the slingshot in the David/Goliath story. The same ethic that went into building their lives in America goes into fighting the charges, and fighting for their name. The Sung family is humiliated with staged arrests involving a seemingly endless perp walk with the family chained together. But the lack of action is made up for by the gumption of the accused banking family, whose respect for each other is apparent even as they bicker and interrupt each other over trial strategy, press releases and the catered lunch. The documentary is dry as the details of the case are compiled, with a spare piano and harp score and some highly technical elements as the court case unfolds. So the people - citizens, the press, a documentarian - should step in. No one in the government is looking out for these immigrant bankers. ![]() He makes a good case that the nearly one-sided point of view is necessary. “Hoop Dreams” director Steve James takes a strong point of view - that the Sung family was victimized by a government that protected the strong and made an example of the weak.
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