Product Details

• Actors: Bill Bradley, Hodding Carter, Walter Cronkite, Jr. Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Altman
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Alive Mind
• DVD Release Date: January 13, 2009
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001HM2CE2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,796 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The American Ruling Class" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

THE AMERICAN RULING CLASS is one of the most unusual films to be made in America in recent years, both in terms of form and subject. The form is a first, a “dramatic-documentary-musical” that re-invents all three genres. And the subject is our country’s most taboo topic: class, power and privilege in our nominally democratic republic. At the bottom, the film is a morality tale, the story of two Yale students who seek their opportunities after graduation. Lewis Lapham, the renowned essayist, author and longtime Harper’s Magazine editor, conducts them through the corridors of power – Pentagon press briefings, the World Economic Forum, philanthropic foundations, Washington law firms, banks, the Council on Foreign Relations and New York society dinners.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Movie Blew Me Away, March 25, 2009

By 

Best Raw Organic : ) (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The American Ruling Class (DVD)

There are very few movies that warrant the blowing of me away. Enough about me.

At first glance, this movie might appear a bit erudite. Go right ahead and move past that - if you listen carefully, you will hear scintillating brilliance and dry urbane wit that rivals Monty Python's Quest for Holy Grail.

Of course this is not a comedy. But sometimes, dry can be humorful in an incredulous, eye-opening sort of way.

One of the things that absolutely floored me is how revealing this movie is. You will see people who are the real deal (extraordinary people from powerful places and top positions in the stratosphere of the global elite) say astounding, unbelievable things. And, they mean every word. It's mindblowing.

Don't be surprised if you say to yourself, "Did I hear correctly?" "No, I couldn't have heard that - let me rewind..." "They're joking, right?" "This is a put on... isn't it?" "Are they impersonators? Dub-ins?" "Are they who they say they are?" "How did the movie director get them into this movie?" "Astounding!" "I can't believe it!"

Your head will swivel. You will definitely have to watch this movie over and over again to savor every enlightening moment, every little zinging nuance.

One reason is, because, there's so much depth amongst the flashes of light and dark. It's mesmerizing. Small, simple little phrases here and there that have the weight of dark matter.

There's this quote from Voltaire - look for it. It's extraordinarily timely, considering today's economic climate... It involves "corporatism."

One beauty of this movie is that it allows you to draw your own conclusions. It provides information. You provide the thinking.

The Acting and Actors...

Great acting by two student actors who play Yale grads. One of the actors is actually a Harvard grad - how funny is that? You KNOW there was a dig in there, some way...

Another student actor was from Princeton, another, Stanford. I wonder if any were from... Yale. After all, we're talking about the political, affluent, power elite... would any Yalie participate in this most delightful movie?

Other ways this movie rrrocks...

The script is perfection, the acting, superb, actors, well chosen, the music, most excellent, and the actual real people who played themselves - stupendous.

The movie opens with a with a surreal exaggeration of an Ivy Leaguey gathering in the garden. The stage is set with verbal poetry in motion. It's like pastel vellummy old paper, crispy and faded at the corners. Dry. Jaded. Ennui'd. Just the right touches to take the Ivy League theme a touch over the top, and yet not.

And the soundtrack and music... worth putting on in the background while you're studying or working. You know how classical music increases work production? The music in this movie does that for me even though it's not classical.

This movie is a MUST HAVE as you will most definitely want to watch it over and over again. You'll see things you totally missed, every time. This movie is... aBUNdant. Overflowing with meaning and discovery.

If there ever was a movie for a lifetime, this is it. Also check out Half Moon Street with Sigourney Weaver.

I hope I'm allowed to say that!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Political Musical? - Yep, but with a real purpose behind the humor, December 21, 2008

By 

Steven I. Ramm "Steve Ramm "Anything Phon... (Phila, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The American Ruling Class (DVD)

I watched the DVD with no preconceptions as to what I was going to see except that there were a lot of well-known folks listed on the box as appearing in the film. Walter Cronkite, Senator (and NBA star) Bill Bradley, Director Robert Altman, author Kurt Vonnegut, activist/singer Pete Seeger and Disney Chair Mike Medavoy were there. Yet this was a small independent film. Were they being roped into being on camera as part of a publicity stunt? Well, yes.. and no. Director John Kirby's film is sort of like a Michael Moore documentary in that it certainly has a specific agenda but, though the premise is truly fictional - two graduating Yale seniors head off in different directions, one working for a big investment firm and the other working in social service. With the help of columnist Lewis Lapham, they also get to visit and interview the above named celebrities and politicians asking the question: Who is the current American ruling class? The musical part of the "mockumentary" is composed of some clever songs to bind the actual interviews. The students were real students but their quest for the answers was a "set up".

This film apparently played many Film Festivals and I can see why it was an audience favorite. No it won't win any Academy Award nominations, like Moore's films, but it's certainly worth watching.

There are no special features on it, which would have added to the value of the DVD.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must see, if you love democracy., February 26, 2009

By 

Doomed01 (WA, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The American Ruling Class (DVD)

This is my favorite movie now. I watched it at least 5 times, learning something new each time. With such a sensitive subject, it's subtle, with clues everywhere, from its product placement of books, flashing of portfolios to even song lyrics. I think if you watch this movie very carefully & read the book below (see link), you could be awakened.

The Secrets of the Federal Reserve (Hardcover)The Secrets of the Federal Reserve