Documentaries may be about true stories, but that doesn't mean they can't stir up emotional responses in the viewer. The last documentary I read, about first responders in Aleppo, Syria, made me feel anger against the callousness of governments, and sympathy for the strong and courageous men who have to deal with the consequences. This movie, too, made me rail against not just the enormous insensitivity of my own government, but also just how incompetent it seems to be.
"Abacus" is the name of a small federally chartered savings bank, with just six branches, operating in New York's Chinatown. It was founded by a Chinese man, born in Shanghai, who immigrated to the United States as a child with his parents. He went to law school and practiced law for a while and then decided to help his native community by operating a bank that could provide credit to other Chinese immigrants who have a native mistrust of banks, government, and pretty much any institution who wants a share of their money. In addition, to operating his bank, successfully for many years, he, with his devoted wife, also raised four amazing daughters, three of which also became lawyers and the fourth, a physician. In short, this was an impressive family - smart and hardworking.
The documentary camera spends a lot of time with this family, in their offices, and frequently in Chinese restaurants eating big, and appetizing, Chinese meals. We learn that the family is close-knit, loving, and commanding a sense of humor, in addition to being smart and committed to both their family and their community.
They had to have those qualities, in order to survive an ordeal that lasted five long years and would threaten their bank, their reputations, and their freedom. Abacus Federal Savings Bank was not just the first, but the only bank in all of America that was charged and prosecuted with felony charges as a result of all the financial misbehavior that created the 2008 financial collapse of America. You have to think about that a bit. If, like me, you've been waiting for ten years now for leaders of America's biggest banks (like Chase, Goldman-Sachs, Wells Fargo, and Citibank) to actually pay for the suffering they caused Americans because of the greedy deals they fraudulently packaged and promoted, then this documentary will do nothing except make you angry.
Instead of going after the banks that were 'too big to fail', instead, Cyrus Vance, the D.A. For the Southern District of New York, instead took the incredibly easy and cowardly approach of trying to punish a small community bank that had, at worst, committed some omissions of proper oversight over some of its employees. The Sung family, and the managers they employed, were definitely guilty of failing to adequately oversee several of their mortgage processors, because, frankly, they trusted them more than they should have. But, after five years of building a case, the assistant district attorney couldn't connect all the dots to prove criminal intent on the part of the owners, she instead developed absurd theories based on cultural misunderstandings and career advancement goals. No doubt she had encouragement from Vance who was desperately looking for an example that would pretend to show that they were indeed doing something about the financial crisis. They found a bank that was "small enough to jail!"
I've been concerned for some time now about the lack of leadership in our political institutions. It seems we have embraced leaders who are not only just plain stupid, but who also are motivated by the basest of impulses. This movie does nothing to alter that opinion. I give the movie 8 stars for so effectively making me angry!
