Generation Wealth — Review
Lauren Greenfield’s latest documentary Generation Wealth arrives at Sundance London, screening June 2nd and 3rd.
Generation Wealth is the story of global capitalism across the past 25 years through the lens of photographer Lauren Greenfield. It’s an ambitious topic, but one that Greenfield handles expertly, following her critically-acclaimed 2012 doc Queen of Versailles.
Greenfield delves further into the psychology behind the Versailles narrative here, widening her perspective to the worldwide pursuit of wealth and happiness. In turn, she questions her own obsession with capturing lives of excess. There is an underlying concern with family and parenthood, and the conflict between individuality and community in a consumer-led society. With a documentary approach evocative of Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson, Greenfield uncovers the personal crises leading up to and following the 2008 Recession, which lies near the centre of her 25-year story.
The personal narrative is reminiscent of Janis Ian’s 1975 hit ‘At Seventeen’: both speak of the American obsession with beauty standards and its impact on young women, which Greenfield has previously explored in her book Girl Culture.
Remember those who win the game / Lose the love they sought to gain
Both in herself and in the young people she photographs and revisits, Greenfield sees the ‘game’ of comparison. Whereas once we would compare ourselves with a neighbour, today we envy people of greater familiarity: the stars of reality TV and social media. Kim Kardashian, the quintessential figure of a culture that one voice describes as ‘pornified’, was photographed by Greenfield at the beginning of her project.
The ‘Generation’ of the film’s title is broadly-defined. Greenfield doesn’t associate the trend of extreme consumption solely with Millennials or with preceding generations. Rather, she portrays the ‘influence of affluence’ throughout the decades since the 1970s, when, as journalist Chris Hedges states, America shifted from an empire of production to an empire of consumption. In this sense, it is both a film about familial generations and the act of constant re-generation, of commodified products and individuals being created and destroyed.
As a multimedia project, Generation Wealth harnesses the documentary form to exploit the visual pleasure of Greenfield’s photography. Her images often use flash lighting to place the subject in full clarity and stark contrast; in the film, the single moment of a posed portrait becomes the complex story of ageing and change. In doing so, Greenfield makes her images more profound than the superficiality they represent, and humanises the extraordinary characters they capture.
These characters are allowed to review their past through Greenfield’s lens, and though many of them regret their lifestyles, others perceive their image in her photographs as the product of a bygone era. Often, it is the loss of youth rather than wealth that equals a loss of value. With compelling intimacy, Greenfield shares the peace of those who have accepted this loss, along with the chaotic lives of those aiming to recreate the past, or freeze the present in the manner of her photographs.
For others such as Florian Homm, reconciliation or regret doesn’t fully take hold when Greenfield returns. Having been forced into extradition for fraud, Homm’s arrogance and individualism remains in clear view. A moment of rare emotion doesn’t obscure his opulence, and the director cleverly emphasises luxury as his opiate, seizing upon his drastic cigar puffs. Above all, Greenfield empathises with his son, also interviewed; the generational impact of laissez-faire lifestyles is her concern.
