The amended United States Constitution considers a business corporation to be a person. Consequently a corporation can own property, sue, be sued and otherwise conduct business as any other individual. However, unlike a person, a corporation is driven by the need to do right by its stockholders and, fortunately for them, does not succumb to the inconvenient notion of conscience. This is the central argument of The Corporation, a startling documentary that lifts a lid on sweat shops, industrial pollution, government collusion amid sound claims of psychopathic behaviour by these corporate citizens. After all, if you or I behaved like these ‘people’, we’d be admitted for serious treatment before you can say Danger Will Robinson! Based on Joel Balkan’s The Corporation: the pathological pursuit of profit and power, The Corporation is an award-winning long haul at 145 minutes yet is easy to digest thanks to compelling revelations, inspired use of library footage and a persuasive cast: enter captains of industry, whistleblowers and a spy plus illuminating interviews with Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Milton Friedman and Michael Moore. There’s also a psychopathic consultant from the FBI for added comic value. The film works through provocative and intimidating to monstrous and frighteningly outrageous revelations as their cogent argument against corporate rape gathers force. Where much anti-globalisation reportage has been reduced to soggy sound bites by incoherent activists, The Corporation is a concise, chilling, reasoned argument. In a year of excellent feature documentaries, it stands out to state a riveting case that should be heard by everyone concerned about our privatised future. Make an effort to listen. // COLIN FRASER