IMDb RATING
6.7/10
5.9K
YOUR RATING
A documentary that investigates the pathologies that have created the richest society the world has ever seen.A documentary that investigates the pathologies that have created the richest society the world has ever seen.A documentary that investigates the pathologies that have created the richest society the world has ever seen.
- Awards
- 6 nominations total
Paris Cronin
- Self
- (as Paris)
Ronald Reagan
- Self
- (archive footage)
Suzanne Murphy
- Self
- (as Suzanne)
Michael Barney Jr.
- Self
- (as Lil Magic)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Started out with topic at hand. Generational wealth splattered with self promotion of her other movies/ writings. A tablespoon of her family biography and an inner look at some family pathology. Too self serving for my taste. For the love of God stay on topic.
Literally all over the place. Large disappointment.
Literally all over the place. Large disappointment.
Thoughtful and often funny view of our obsession with money and stuff. But the filmmaker's kindness also shines through. She doesn't judge her subjects and places herself in the spotlight too.
What interesting subject matter spanning decades of following kids born with silver spoons. And there definitely IS some interesting photography and inter views, but the biggest issue is that it fails to draw any big conclusions around the central theme. It feels a little bit like, "here is some info from my work as a journalist/photographer and make with it what you well." Which is fine, but it lacked follow-through thematically.
I enjoyed this film. It was very compelling. All profiles are of damaged people with a lot of regret. Including the film maker, who confesses her feelings of abandonment by her own mother as a child, only to repeat the cycle herself...
Money can be a tricky thing: Despite nearly everyone's professing of the want of more of it, those that have it do not experience the seemingly requisite happiness or contentment. As a subject in this documentary says: "If you believe money can buy happiness, you obviously have never had money!". Everyone believes they can be the exception to the rule, but the results seem to indicate otherwise.
"Generation Wealth" is, at its core, a personal project from photojournalist/director Lauren Greenfield. She basically turned her camera lens toward the affluent around the world (we visit China, Russia, Europe, along with the U.S.), shot as many pics as possible, and then looked to see what interesting conclusions might be drawn from the experience.
For some reason, "Generation Wealth" receives very poor ratings from the critics, and I think I know the crux of the reason why: this is a very expansive, far-reaching documentary that severely lacks a thesis. Though the production value is very high, it lacks a true goal or thesis, instead throwing a bunch of wealth-related ideas out for thought and just letting them "sit there", so to speak.
The reason for this lack of coherent subject or purpose? In many respects, this is as much a personal journey for Greenfield, who grew up in the affluent LA suburbs and thus has a very personal stake in the entire discussion. Her relationships (documented on camera) with her own parents and immediate family/children bring an emotional punch to the doc that is much-appreciated (at least by this viewer). It's one thing to see how wealth affects the richest of Wall Street traders or international business tycoons. It's another to see how it can creep into day-to-day life of the "average" folk as well.
Usually, I would criticize a doc like this one for lacking any sort of primary focus or goal to accomplish, but I think "Generation Wealth" is the rare piece that works in spite of (if not in some ways because of) its non-proselytizing ways. It is indeed "all over the place", but all the different avenues it turns down lead to productive highways instead of dead-ends. Add in the emotional Greenfield angle and it covers all the bases.
Because of the ratings, I had very low expectations coming into "Generation Wealth", but found myself riveted from the opening salvo to the closing credits. If you are a fan of social documentaries or the topic of wealth in general, you'll find something to enjoy here.
"Generation Wealth" is, at its core, a personal project from photojournalist/director Lauren Greenfield. She basically turned her camera lens toward the affluent around the world (we visit China, Russia, Europe, along with the U.S.), shot as many pics as possible, and then looked to see what interesting conclusions might be drawn from the experience.
For some reason, "Generation Wealth" receives very poor ratings from the critics, and I think I know the crux of the reason why: this is a very expansive, far-reaching documentary that severely lacks a thesis. Though the production value is very high, it lacks a true goal or thesis, instead throwing a bunch of wealth-related ideas out for thought and just letting them "sit there", so to speak.
The reason for this lack of coherent subject or purpose? In many respects, this is as much a personal journey for Greenfield, who grew up in the affluent LA suburbs and thus has a very personal stake in the entire discussion. Her relationships (documented on camera) with her own parents and immediate family/children bring an emotional punch to the doc that is much-appreciated (at least by this viewer). It's one thing to see how wealth affects the richest of Wall Street traders or international business tycoons. It's another to see how it can creep into day-to-day life of the "average" folk as well.
Usually, I would criticize a doc like this one for lacking any sort of primary focus or goal to accomplish, but I think "Generation Wealth" is the rare piece that works in spite of (if not in some ways because of) its non-proselytizing ways. It is indeed "all over the place", but all the different avenues it turns down lead to productive highways instead of dead-ends. Add in the emotional Greenfield angle and it covers all the bases.
Because of the ratings, I had very low expectations coming into "Generation Wealth", but found myself riveted from the opening salvo to the closing credits. If you are a fan of social documentaries or the topic of wealth in general, you'll find something to enjoy here.
Did you know
- TriviaLimo Bob's final film appearance.
- Quotes
Florian Homm: It takes a long trip to come back to what matters. The other stuff is a delusion.
- SoundtracksAlready Knowing
Performed by Cool Amerika
- How long is Generation Wealth?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Wealth: The Influence of Affluence
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $237,709
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $35,834
- Jul 22, 2018
- Gross worldwide
- $287,709
- Runtime
- 1h 45m(105 min)
- Color
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