American Hustle Official TRAILER 1 (2013) - Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence Movie HD
David O. Russell: Political Corruption in "American Hustle" Is Nothing Compared to Citizens United
Asawin Suebsaeng Dec. 18, 2013 -
http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2013/12/david-o-russell-american-hustle-abscam-citizens-united-chris-matthews
On Tuesday, the famously mercurial writer/director David O. Russell was in Washington, DC, for a special screening and Q&A session for his critically acclaimed, award-winning new film American Hustle. MSNBC host Chris Matthews moderated the Q&A, and Chris Dodd (the former Democratic senator and current chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, the de facto censorship board for cinema in the United States) introduced Russell.
American Hustle—starring Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence—is loosely based on events surrounding Abscam, a sting operation the FBI launched in the late '70s to target trafficking in stolen property. The bureau recruited con artist Melvin Weinberg to help craft and execute the operation, which involved setting up Abdul Enterprises, a fake company funded by fictitious Arab sheiks who offered to bribe people to pave the way for a new casino in Atlantic City. The operation morphed into an investigation of political corruption when politicians started approaching Abdul Enterprises for money. By the early '80s, Abscam had led to the conviction of one senator and six congressmen, among other political figures and officials. (The late Democratic congressman and Vietnam War vet John Murtha was also embroiled in the scandal, but escaped indictment and prosecution.)
In Russell's fictionalization (built off of a script originally titled American Bullshit), the FBI bribes the mayor of Camden, played by Jeremy Renner, with a briefcase filled with $75,000 in cash. (In real life, the bribe was $50,000.) But at Tuesday night's Q&A, Russell contended that the corruption dramatized in his film pales in comparison to what has legally occurred on the American political scene ever since the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision in 2010.
"Seventy-five thousand dollars in a briefcase is very innocent by today's standards ................
= new reply since forum marked as read