Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps by Oliver Stone

Screened tonight at 19:30 pm Out of Competition, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps by Oliver Stone is the follow-up to Wall Street, which came out in 1987. Once again Michael Douglas plays the role of Machiavellian Gordon Gekko. Just out of a 20-year spell in prison, Gekko helps young trader Jacob Moore – played by Shia LaBeouf – to avenge his mentor who was pushed to commit suicide because of some obscure financial transactions. The film crew will be attending the screening of the feature film at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, with Oliver Stone, who will be at the Festival for the fourth time.
If the first Wall Street was a huge hit, it is thanks to the character of Gordon Gekko. So much so that, even today, there are people fascinated with this character in the world of traders, who see him as a charismatic embodiment of what they are. Some quotes from the film, such as “Greed is good” and “Money never sleeps” have a cult following in the profession. “It is unbelievable how many people have come to see me over the years to tell me it was my film that made them want to work on Wall Street” says a surprised Oliver Stone, who wanted his feature film to be a moral tale about the excesses of the financial world. In this follow-up, the director tries to show the upheavals this world has undergone over the past 20 years, on the backdrop of the global financial crisis of 2008.