Client 9: The Rise & Fall of Eliot Spitzer (2010)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Audio Commentary-Director Alex Gibney Interviews-Cast-Director Alex Gibney Deleted Scenes Alternative Version-Extended Interviews Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2010
Running Time	112:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Alex Gibney
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Eliot Spitzer Michael Schwendeman
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Peter Nashel

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The intriguing questions of "What if?" and "Why?" resonate through Client 9: the Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, the most recent documentary from Academy Award winner Alex Gibney. The "what if?" is an enormous one - if Eliot Spitzer, Governor of New York State, former attorney general, had not been brought crashing down to earth through a very public sex scandal would he have fulfilled his ambition, and the ambitions of others, and become America's first Jewish president? The "why?" is an equally puzzling question - why did this man on the rise, this paragon of virtue become embroiled in the sleaziest of all scandals, visiting prostitutes behind the back of his devoted wife?

     The questions are important because Eliot Spitzer and this documentary never shies away from the fact that Spitzer was guilty of the conduct of which he was accused. When the news became public Spitzer, then Governor of New York, made the decision to stand down and since 2009 has been working to resurrect his image. Where will this go is anyone's guess but this documentary is more concerned with how the story unfolded and whether there were any Machiavellian forces at work engineering his downfall.

     Though the downfall makes for the best drama this film is equally concerned with the rise of Eliot Spitzer. He was a golden boy imbued by his wealthy father with a spirit of endeavour and justice. A successful lawyer he was nicknamed the "Sheriff of Wall Street" when he was Attorney General. The reason; his seemingly unstoppable desire to bring down the white-collar criminals who he saw as equally pernicious in the eyes of the law as the bank robbers and common thieves. Chief amongst his early targets were the Masters of the Universe, to borrow from Tom Wolfe, who were gathering obscene profits even during the times when the economy was suffering. His time as Attorney General will always be associated with an attack on those who always seemed untouchable. Chief amongst these were the market analysts who were gaining yearly incomes in the tens of millions. Using novel approaches to legislation Spitzer gained hold of corporate records of one of the key analysts. The records themselves were complex and full of acronyms but once he obtained a copy of the analyst’s lexicon he was able to decipher the comments. Instead of "positive" the acronym "POS" meant "piece of…"! Prosecutions followed as it became apparent that the analysts were recommending valueless stock to hapless investors

     As the documentary would have it the boldest move and greatest tactical error Spitzer committed was when he took on the retiring head of the New York Stock Exchange Dick Grasso over a 130 million payout figure. He demanded that the man pay it back and took aim at others including Ken Langone, one of the wealthiest men in New York, who approved the payout. He made an enemy for life and Langone is interviewed at length in the film and provides a litany of reasons why he despises Spitzer. Langone comes across as a more evil version of Montgomery Burns from The Simpsons. He also made another enemy in attacking one of the wealthiest men in America, Hank Greenberg the CEO of American International Group. His team identified a dummy $500 million loan from a company designed to fool investors into believing that AIG had 500 million in financial reserves. The story once uncovered eventually lead to the CEO stepping down (with a suitably multi-million payout). Similarly, an attack on hedge fund managers for illegal late trading, based on a tip-off, led to prosecutions as well as the whistle-blower not able to get a job in the industry! And so it goes…

     The fall of Spitzer is equally dramatic. He made the shift from Attorney General to Mayor of New York with a great deal of enthusiasm and a desire to shake up what was seen as a den of corruption. He immediately made huge enemies including Ken Bruno, interviewed whilst whaling into a punching bag in his barn. His leadership style as Mayor was criticised by many as being autocratic and he was prone to fits of anger.

     Gibney's documentary tries to make sense of why this successful man on the brink of superstardom would start seeing prostitutes. These were no ordinary hookers. The madam of The Emperors Club which Spitzer used didn't even think of herself as dealing in prostitution. After all, she reasons, her girls were charging thousands of dollars per hour is all the difference.Spitzer can't explain why he began using prostitutes other than to trot out the lame excuse of it being preferable to having an affair, which even he acknowledges is lame. Looked at from a distance the best answer is probably that through wealth and power he thought he could get away with it.

     Given this, the documentary plays with but never seriously explores the question of whether Ken Langone was having Spitzer tailed by private detectives. Certainly there were inexplicable comments from Langone after the matter became public to suggest that he knew "someone in the line at the post office" when Spitzer was obtaining money orders to pay for prostitutes. Further, the title from the documentary refers to the fact that all the "johns" were referred to under anonymous "Client" titles. Somehow the most information was leaked about Client 9, leading the press to Spitzer.

     The real question is what would have happened if Spitzer hadn't succumbed to his urges. Would he have become President? Perhaps more relevantly, would he have been able to control the financial markets and to have prevented the excess that led to the Global Financial Crisis. It is hard to imagine that with all his zeal Spitzer could have taken his eyes off management of New York State to be able to exert a regular Tory influence on Wall Street. The question will never be answered.

     Gibney has made corporate excess and skulduggery into an obsession. His film Enron-the Smartest Guys in the Room and the recent documentary on Casino Jack display an open distaste for the abuse of power that comes with extraordinary wealth. His Oscar-winning documentary, Taxi to the Dark Side was an equally compelling insight into an unstoppable and unscrupulous machine, this time in the fog of war. If Client 9 is not as powerful as his best films it is nevertheless an enormously compelling work that leaves the viewer with a barely contained sense of anger that the fat cats are able to generate money irrespective of the consequences for the less fortunate in an economy which seems to self-perpetuate their crimes. The film forms an essential part of a series of movies dealing with the recent history of corporate America including Inside Job.

Video

     Client 9 comes to DVD in a 1.85:1 transfer consistent with its original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The film consists of a series of talking heads’ interviews combined with archive footage. The footage comes from a variety of sources. Most of it is fairly recent and is of reasonable quality. The talking heads interviews are all cleanly shot and the image quality of this film overall is sharp. The colours are strong and clear. There is no evidence of technical problems on this dual layer DVD.

     There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired.

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Audio

     There are two soundtracks for Client 9. Both are Dolby Digital and in English. The prime track is a 5.1 surround track running at 448 Kb/s and there is also an English 2.0 track running at 224 Kb/s.

     As with other documentaries given the surround sound treatment the additional bit rate is most welcome in creating a more sonically pleasing experience, however in general the surround sound capabilities are rarely utilised. Further, the sub-woofer is not really necessary.

     The sound for the film is of good quality and the dialogue is clear and easily understood throughout. There is an original score for the film however Gibney also makes good use of some contrasting and relatively obscure music sources. There are a couple of songs thrown in from indie performer Cat Power including her curious and riveting cover version of New York, New York.

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     There are a number of extras included with the DVD which comprise over an hour of additional footage.

Directors Commentary: Alex Gibney

     Gibney is a highly intelligent individual who has both a deep knowledge of the workings of the US economy and government necessary to create his documentaries combined with a somewhat wide-eyed disbelief at the audacity and low morals of some of the key players. Gibney is an active participant in the commentary track, consistently providing information both about the stories behind the story and the making of the film.

     One of the interesting things about Client 9 is the narrative structure which does not necessarily follow the story from beginning to end. Gibney explains in some detail why he chose to tell the story in a slightly fractured approach and also chose to film Spitzer's interview in a manner which approached "discomfiting intimacy". Commentary tracks on documentary films are quite rare possibly because filmmakers and production companies feel that the nature of documentaries explain themselves. This commentary track is proof that a director of a documentary can speak engagingly for the duration of the film.

Interview: Alex Gibney

     This interview begins in a fashion which suggests that it will add little to the film experience. Gibney talks about the Spitzer story in a summary fashion. As it progresses, however, the filmmaker’s own beliefs begin to emerge and we come to understand what really attracted him to the story. Key amongst his concerns was the feeling that Spitzer was "taken out" by political interests and his investigations certainly revealed that there were dirty tricks and shenanigans going on in the background.

Extended interviews

     There is extensive interview footage included of all the key players as follows:

• Eliot Spitzer (5.59)
• Hubert Waldroup (7.08)
• Joe Bruno (2.44)
• Roger Stone (2.08)
• Darren Dopp (3.39)
• Cecil Suwal (6.46)
• "Angelina" (4.18)

    All the additional material is worth watching and often includes interesting insights and information from the interviewees that was a little too off topic to find its way into the finished film. For example the story of Roger Stone getting his Richard Nixon tattoo is interesting in itself but probably not worthy of inclusion in the main film.

Deleted scenes

     There are a number of deleted scenes included, comprising approximately 15 minutes of excluded materials. All interesting and worth watching.

     All Regions have an identical DVD.Buy local.

     Client 9 is another riveting documentary from Alex Gibney. Once again the excesses and crimes of the powerful financial interests in the US provide fodder for our interest and anger.

     The DVD is of good quality both in sound and vision terms.

     The added materials particularly the audio commentary are of good quality and a worthy addition.

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