# Marx Reloaded

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{{Short description|2011 German documentary film}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Marx Reloaded
| image          = Marx Reloaded promo.jpg
| alt            = <!-- see WP:ALT -->
| caption        = 
| director       = [Jason Barker](/source/Jason_Barker)
| producer       = Jason Barker<br>Irene Höfer<br>Andreas Schroth
| writer         = Jason Barker
| starring       = Jason Barker<br>[John N. Gray](/source/John_N._Gray)<br>[Michael Hardt](/source/Michael_Hardt)<br>[Antonio Negri](/source/Antonio_Negri)<br>[Nina Power](/source/Nina_Power)<br>[Jacques Rancière](/source/Jacques_Ranci%C3%A8re)<br>[Peter Sloterdijk](/source/Peter_Sloterdijk)<br>[Alberto Toscano](/source/Alberto_Toscano)<br>[Slavoj Žižek](/source/Slavoj_%C5%BDi%C5%BEek)<br>Ivan Nikolic
| music          = Markus Rieger
| cinematography = 
| editing        = Nebojsa Andric<br>Stevan Djordjevic<br>Carsten Piefke
| studio         = [Films Noirs](/source/Films_Noirs)<br>Medea Film<br>[ZDF](/source/ZDF)
| distributor    = [Arte](/source/Arte)
| released       = {{Film date|2011|04|11|Germany, France|2012|02|10|UK|2012|09|01|df=y|USA}}<ref name="ICA Films">{{cite web | url=http://www.ica.org.uk/?lid=31704 | title=Marx Reloaded | work=[ICA](/source/Institute_of_Contemporary_Arts) | date= | accessdate=January 12, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129030454/http://www.ica.org.uk/?lid=31704 | archive-date=January 29, 2012 | url-status=usurped }}</ref><ref name="Icarus Films">{{cite web | url=http://icarusfilms.com/new.html | title=Marx Reloaded | work=[Icarus Films](/source/Icarus_Films) | date= | accessdate=August 24, 2012}}</ref>
| runtime        = 52 minutes
| country        = Germany
| language       = English<br>French<br>German
| budget         = 
| gross          = 
}}
'''''Marx Reloaded''''' is a 2011 German [documentary film](/source/documentary_film) written and directed by the British writer and theorist [Jason Barker](/source/Jason_Barker). Featuring interviews with several well-known philosophers, the film aims to examine the relevance of [Karl Marx](/source/Karl_Marx)'s ideas in relation to the [Great Recession](/source/Great_Recession).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.german-documentaries.de/films/43892 | title=''Marx Reloaded'' | publisher=german-documentaries.de | accessdate=June 6, 2011}}</ref><ref name="jungewelt"/><ref name="Zeit">{{cite news | url=http://www.zeit.de/2009/05/Widerspruch-05 | title=Marx reloaded (German) | work=[Zeit](/source/Die_Zeit) | date=January 22, 2009 | accessdate=June 6, 2011 | author=Michael Siegmund}}</ref><ref name="tagesspiegel"/> The film's title is a wordplay on ''[The Matrix Reloaded](/source/The_Matrix_Reloaded)'', the sequel to ''[The Matrix](/source/The_Matrix)'', which is parodied in the documentary.

==Background==
According to the film's website, "''Marx Reloaded'' … examines the relevance of German socialist philosopher [Karl Marx](/source/Karl_Marx)'s ideas for understanding the global [economic and financial crisis of 2008–09](/source/Great_Recession)." The film also considers, in the context of an alleged revival of Marxist thinking, whether "[communism](/source/communism) might provide the solution to the growing economic and environmental challenges facing the planet".<ref name="marxreloaded">{{cite web | url=http://www.marxreloaded.com/film.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321070328/http://www.marxreloaded.com/film.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 21, 2011 | title=Marx Reloaded | publisher=marxreloaded.com | accessdate=June 6, 2011 }}</ref>

In an interview with [Verso Books](/source/Verso_Books), writer-director Jason Barker described his intention in making the film "to reload or reimagine Marx as a thinker, without the usual totalitarian moralising." Barker criticised the "cliché" according to which "Marx's diagnoses of capitalism are validated whereas his 'prescription' of communism is rubbished on the grounds that it's 'utopian'." Asked whether the renewed popularity of Marx is evidence of a return of communism as a political force, or "just the spectre of Marx haunting the academies", Barker replied that "political thinking today is again converging on precisely the type of social conditions in which Marx lived."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.versobooks.com/blogs/900-an-interview-with-jason-barker-director-of-marx-reloaded | title=Interview with Jason Barker, director of Marx Reloaded | publisher=VersoBooks.com | accessdate=February 28, 2012}}</ref>

In a separate interview, Barker also discussed the film's use of animation, in particular his decision to parody ''[The Matrix](/source/The_Matrix)'', admitting that although it was an "obvious parody" and "fun to make", there was also a philosophical dimension to the animation scenes in which Marx meets [Leon Trotsky](/source/Leon_Trotsky) and [Slavoj Žižek](/source/Slavoj_%C5%BDi%C5%BEek).<ref name="New Left Project">{{cite web | url=http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/marx_enters_the_matrix | title=Marx Enters the Matrix | work=New Left Project | date=May 26, 2011 | accessdate=June 9, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419033316/http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/marx_enters_the_matrix | archive-date=April 19, 2013 | url-status=usurped | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

==Film==
''Marx Reloaded'' features interviews with several well-known philosophers, among them those often associated with [Marxism](/source/Marxism) and [communist](/source/communist) ideas, including [John Gray](/source/John_N._Gray), [Michael Hardt](/source/Michael_Hardt), [Antonio Negri](/source/Antonio_Negri), [Nina Power](/source/Nina_Power), [Jacques Rancière](/source/Jacques_Ranci%C3%A8re), [Peter Sloterdijk](/source/Peter_Sloterdijk), [Alberto Toscano](/source/Alberto_Toscano) and [Slavoj Žižek](/source/Slavoj_%C5%BDi%C5%BEek).<ref name="jungewelt">{{cite news | url=http://www.jungewelt.de/2011/04-08/017.php | title=Falsche Freunde (German) | work=[Junge Welt](/source/Junge_Welt) | date=April 8, 2011 | accessdate=June 6, 2011 | author=Peer Schmidt}}</ref><ref name="tagesspiegel">{{cite web | url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/medien/marx-in-der-matrix/4045006.html | title=Marx in der Matrix (German) | work=[Der Tagesspiegel](/source/Der_Tagesspiegel) | date=April 11, 2011 | accessdate=June 6, 2011}}</ref><ref name="marxreloaded"/> The film also includes [animation](/source/animation) scenes with Marx trapped in a surreal world resembling the 1999 [science fiction](/source/science_fiction_film)&ndash;[action film](/source/action_film) ''[The Matrix](/source/The_Matrix)'', which starred [Keanu Reeves](/source/Keanu_Reeves) and [Laurence Fishburne](/source/Laurence_Fishburne). In one such animated scene Marx ([Jason Barker](/source/Jason_Barker)) encounters [Leon Trotsky](/source/Leon_Trotsky) (Ivan Nikolic) in a pastiche of the [red pill and blue pill](/source/red_pill_and_blue_pill) scene in ''[The Matrix](/source/The_Matrix)'' in which Reeves' character [Neo](/source/Neo_(The_Matrix)) first meets Fishburne's character [Morpheus](/source/Morpheus_(The_Matrix)).

==Reception==
''Marx Reloaded'' had its TV premiere on [Arte](/source/Arte) on 11 April and was repeated on 20 April. The film was subsequently broadcast on the [Romania](/source/Romania)n television channel [B1 TV](/source/B1_TV) on 12 August 2011,<ref name="B1 TV">{{cite web | url=http://www.b1.ro/stiri/eveniment/special-b1-prezinta-documentarul-intoarcerea-lui-marx-astazi-de-la-ora-21-00-9422.html | title=Special B1 prezintă documentarul Întoarcerea lui Marx | work=[B1 TV](/source/B1_TV) | date=August 12, 2011 | accessdate=August 16, 2011}}</ref> followed by a studio debate involving political analyst Dinu Flămând, journalist [Cristian Tudor Popescu](/source/Cristian_Tudor_Popescu) and writer Vasile Ernu. 
thumb|left|300px|Yongjune Park, Jason Barker and Taek-Gwang Lee at DMZ Docs 2011.
On 25 September 2011 the film was screened (out of competition) at the 2011 [DMZ International Documentary Film Festival](/source/DMZ_International_Documentary_Film_Festival).<ref name="DMZ Docs">{{cite web | url=http://dmzdocs.com/program/mo_view.php?index=152 | title=Marx Reloaded | work=[DMZ Docs](/source/DMZ_International_Documentary_Film_Festival) | accessdate=September 1, 2011 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331142452/http://dmzdocs.com/program/mo_view.php?index=152 | archivedate=March 31, 2012 }}</ref> The screening was followed by a panel discussion involving writer-director Jason Barker, Professor Taek-Gwang Lee of [Kyung Hee University](/source/Kyung_Hee_University) and Yongjune Park, the editor of Indigo, an English-language Korean humanities magazine.<ref name="DMZ Docs2">{{cite web | url=http://dmzdocs.com/eng/event/talk2.html | title=Capitalism in Crisis and Marx Reloaded | work=[DMZ Docs](/source/DMZ_International_Documentary_Film_Festival) | date= | accessdate=September 30, 2011 }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Both the film and director<ref name="Hankook Ilbo">{{cite web | url=http://news.hankooki.com/lpage/culture/201109/h2011092520523986330.htm | title=Marx in fashion | work=[Hankook Ilbo](/source/Hankook_Ilbo) | accessdate=September 30, 2011 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402192252/http://news.hankooki.com/lpage/culture/201109/h2011092520523986330.htm | archivedate=April 2, 2012 }}</ref> were the subject of national press coverage in the ''[Hankook Ilbo](/source/Hankook_Ilbo)''.

On 3 October 2011 the film had its Serbian premiere at the Centre for Cultural Decontamination in [Belgrade](/source/Belgrade),<ref name="Danu Beogradu">{{cite web | url=http://www.danubeogradu.rs/2011/10/premijera-filma-marx-reloaded | title=Premijera filma Marx Reloaded | date=October 2, 2011 | accessdate=October 18, 2011}}</ref> with further screenings planned in the same venue on 20, 21 and 24 October.<ref name="CZKd">{{cite web | url=http://www.czkd.org/programi.php?id=470&lang=sr | title=Marx Reloaded Premijera | date=October 2, 2011 | accessdate=October 18, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019091348/http://www.czkd.org/programi.php?id=470&lang=sr | archive-date=October 19, 2011 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Marx Reloaded premiered in the UK on 10 February 2012 at the [Institute of Contemporary Arts](/source/Institute_of_Contemporary_Arts) in London, where it screened to sell-out audiences<ref name="The London Evening Standard">{{cite web | url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/the-marx-effect-7669766.html | title=The Marx effect | work=[The London Evening Standard](/source/The_London_Evening_Standard) | date=April 23, 2012 | access-date=May 8, 2012}}</ref> until 20 April.<ref name="ICA Films">{{cite web | url=http://www.ica.org.uk/?lid=31704 | title=Marx Reloaded | work=[ICA](/source/Institute_of_Contemporary_Arts) | date= | accessdate=January 12, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129030454/http://www.ica.org.uk/?lid=31704 | archive-date=January 29, 2012 | url-status=usurped }}</ref>

Reviews of the film have been positive. ''[Time Out London](/source/Time_Out_London)'' described it as containing "enough interesting ideas to make this well worth a watch for those with an interest in philosophy, politics and the general state of the world as we know it."<ref name="Time Out">{{cite web | url=http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/92193/marx-reloaded.html | title=Marx Reloaded | work=[Time Out](/source/Time_Out_(magazine)) | date= February 8, 2012 | accessdate=February 28, 2012}}</ref> ''[Little White Lies](/source/Little_White_Lies_(magazine))'' called it an "engaging hour-long talking-head-meets-animation doc"; "the film shines a light on the many causes of the financial crumble, creating a compelling dialogue of Marx's theories on capitalism as they apply to its contemporary form."<ref name="Litle White Lies">{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150424040427/http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/theatrical-reviews/marx-reloaded-17920 | archive-date = 24 April 2015 | url=http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/theatrical-reviews/marx-reloaded-17920 | title=Marx Reloaded Review | work=[Little White Lies](/source/Little_White_Lies_(magazine)) | date= February 9, 2012 | accessdate=February 28, 2012}}</ref> Subtitledonline.com awarded the film three out of a possible five stars, although criticized it for its "failure to balance quirky presentation with challenging content".<ref name="Subtitledonline">{{cite web | url=http://www.subtitledonline.com/reviews/marx-reloaded | title=Marx Reloaded | work=Subtitledonline.com | accessdate=February 28, 2012 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212203047/http://www.subtitledonline.com/reviews/marx-reloaded | archivedate=February 12, 2012 }}</ref>

As well as reviews ''[The Financial Times](/source/The_Financial_Times)'' featured the film as part of its "Capitalism in Crisis" series, followed by an interview with Jason Barker and the editor of ''[New Left Review](/source/New_Left_Review)'', [Robin Blackburn](/source/Robin_Blackburn).<ref name="The Financial Times">{{cite web | url=http://video.ft.com/v/1458268842001/Can-Marx-save-capitalism- | title=Can Marx Save Capitalism? | work=[The Financial Times](/source/The_Financial_Times) | date=February 17, 2012 | accessdate=February 28, 2012}}</ref>

''[The London Evening Standard](/source/The_London_Evening_Standard)'' cited the film alongside the 2012 re-edition of ''[The Communist Manifesto](/source/The_Communist_Manifesto)'' (introduced by [Eric Hobsbawm](/source/Eric_Hobsbawm)) and [Owen Jones](/source/Owen_Jones_(writer))' best-selling book ''[Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class](/source/Chavs%3A_The_Demonization_of_the_Working_Class)'' as evidence of a resurgence of left-wing ideas.<ref name="The London Evening Standard" />

==Blue or Red Pill?==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Želimir Žilnik, Dec 2011.jpg|thumb|right|170px|[Želimir Žilnik](/source/%C5%BDelimir_%C5%BDilnik) at "Blue or Red Pill?", CZKd, Belgrade.]] -->
On 16 December 2011, the first in a series of public debates entitled "Blue or Red Pill?" (Crvena ili plava pilula?) was held at the Centre for Cultural Decontamination (CZKd), Belgrade, in which the social and political themes from the film were explored. Serbian film director [Želimir Žilnik](/source/%C5%BDelimir_%C5%BDilnik) – himself noted for his socially-engaged film-making, most recently in the 2009 film [Stara škola kapitalizma](/source/Stara_%C5%A1kola_kapitalizma) – participated in the event along with Jason Barker.<ref name="Peščanik">{{cite web | url=http://pescanik.net/2011/12/crvena-ili-plava-pilula | title= Marx Reloaded | date=December 14, 2011 | accessdate=January 16, 2012}}</ref>

A second debate took place on 15 February 2012 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), in which the [BBC](/source/BBC) [Newsnight](/source/Newsnight) economics editor [Paul Mason](/source/Paul_Mason_(journalist)), the [blog](/source/blog)ger and ''[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)'' journalist [Laurie Penny](/source/Laurie_Penny), and [Robin Blackburn](/source/Robin_Blackburn) joined Jason Barker. The debate considered the implications of Marx's work in the context of a growing popular resistance to the global economic and financial crisis, and whether the revolutionary change advocated by Marx had finally arrived: "Is humanity standing at a crossroads where a decision – and by whom or in whose name? – for 'another world' must be taken?"<ref name="ICA">{{cite web | url=http://www.ica.org.uk/?lid=32057 | title=Marx Reloaded: Blue or Red Pill? | date=December 14, 2011 | accessdate=January 16, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128041853/http://www.ica.org.uk/?lid=32057 | archive-date=January 28, 2012 | url-status=usurped }}</ref>

==See also==
*[Karl Marx in film](/source/Karl_Marx_in_film)

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{official website|http://www.marxreloaded.com/}}
*{{IMDb title|1884351}}
*[https://originalsonictruth.blogspot.com/2011/01/marx-returns-to-bail-out-finance.html ''Marx Reloaded'' Review at The Original Sonic Truth blog]
*{{YouTube|ybvsZ7YjBL0|''Marx Reloaded'' trailer}}

{{Karl Marx}}

Category:2011 films
Category:2011 documentary films
Category:German documentary films
Category:Works about Marxism
Category:Films about capitalism
Category:Films about communism
Category:Documentary films about philosophy
Category:Documentary films about ideologies
Category:Documentary films about the Great Recession
Category:Cultural depictions of Karl Marx
Category:Cultural depictions of Leon Trotsky
Category:The Matrix (franchise)
Category:2011 German films

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Marx Reloaded](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx_Reloaded) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx_Reloaded?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.