![]() He provided seed money to businesses and mortgages to local residents, but in 2010 his managers spotted irregularities on the mortgage books, and traced them to a single employee - Ken Yu, who turned out to be taking bribes. Sung, just like George Bailey, created a community hub. The movie opens with the courtly and dapper Sung, now 80, and his wife watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” on television, as Sung explains his powerful identification with James Stewart’s George Bailey, the savings-and-loan purveyor who saved his own town from the clutches of greed. In 1984, the Abacus Federal Savings Bank was founded by Thomas Sung, a Shanghai-born lawyer who wanted to give something back to the Chinatown community. Yet that review wouldn’t tell the whole story. The movie is urgently made, and it’s tempting to offer a standard liberal-advocacy review of it. to be prosecuted for mortgage fraud in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown. In this case, the angle is more overtly political: “Abacus” tells the story of a family-owned bank in New York’s Chinatown that became the one and only bank in the U.S. ![]() ![]() His new movie, “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” falls in line with previous James efforts like “At the Death House Door” (about a Texas execution chaplain who became an anti-death penalty crusader) or “The Interrupters” (about the attempt to steer troubled Chicago youths away from violence). The captivating Roger Ebert biography “Life Itself” was an exception, but in general the qualities of a Steve James film are that it has a highly visible and passionate social conscience it tracks its subject over time with empathy and skill and there’s a fly-on-the-wall Zen plainness to his approach that recalls the work of Fred Wiseman. "While this comes across like a legal thriller, it really is a family comedy it's unlike any documentary you've ever seen," said Mitten.It’s been 22 years since director Steve James released “Hoop Dreams,” and though none of his other films has had anything approaching that impact, in his quiet way he’s become a brand-name documentarian with a signature way of seeing. Master documentarian Steve James directs the film, which has some startling images.ĭistrict Attorney Cyrus Vance had employees rounded up and chained together, herded in front of the media. "The DA was looking for a way to be the only prosecutor in the country to actually convict a bank and be victorious, so that would have been an interesting scalp to put on the wall for him," said Mitten. The family spent five years and $10 million, refusing to surrender honor and reputation. Producer Mark Mitten is close friends with the Sung family. The bank actually had one of the lowest default rates in the country. The family-owned Abacus Federal Savings in New York was accused of large scale mortgage fraud. "It seemed like a real injustice for a family that had pursued the American Dream and was doing something good for the community," said Mark Mitten, the film's producer. The film is currently playing at the Siskel Film Center.ĪBC 7's Janet Davies talked to one of the filmmakers about an immigrant family's dream come true that turned into a nightmare. "Abacus: Small Enough to Jail" is already getting rave reviews. There's a new movie about the only bank in the nation to be prosecuted after the financial crisis of 2008.ĬHICAGO (WLS) - There's a new movie about the only bank in the nation to be prosecuted after the financial crisis of 2008.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |