Marx Reloaded is a 2011 Germandocumentary film written and directed by the British writer and theoristJason Barker. Featuring interviews with several well-known philosophers, the film aims to examine the relevance ofKarl Marx's ideas in relation to theGreat Recession.^[3][4][5][6] The film's title is a wordplay onThe Matrix Reloaded, the sequel toThe Matrix, which is parodied in the documentary.

Marx Reloaded
Directed by	Jason Barker
Written by	Jason Barker
Produced by	Jason Barker Irene Höfer Andreas Schroth
Starring	Jason Barker John N. Gray Michael Hardt Antonio Negri Nina Power Jacques Rancière Peter Sloterdijk Alberto Toscano Slavoj Žižek Ivan Nikolic
Edited by	Nebojsa Andric Stevan Djordjevic Carsten Piefke
Music by	Markus Rieger
Production companies	Films Noirs Medea Film ZDF
Distributed by	Arte
Release dates	11 April 2011 (2011-04-11) (Germany, France) 10 February 2012 (2012-02-10) (UK) 1 September 2012 (2012-09-01) (USA) [1][2]
Running time	52 minutes
Country	Germany
Languages	English French German

According to the film's website, "Marx Reloaded … examines the relevance of German socialist philosopherKarl Marx's ideas for understanding the globaleconomic and financial crisis of 2008–09." The film also considers, in the context of an alleged revival of Marxist thinking, whether "communism might provide the solution to the growing economic and environmental challenges facing the planet".^[7]

In an interview withVerso Books, writer-director Jason Barker described his intention in making the film "to reload or reimagine Marx as a thinker, without the usual totalitarian moralising." Barker criticised the "cliché" according to which "Marx's diagnoses of capitalism are validated whereas his 'prescription' of communism is rubbished on the grounds that it's 'utopian'." Asked whether the renewed popularity of Marx is evidence of a return of communism as a political force, or "just the spectre of Marx haunting the academies", Barker replied that "political thinking today is again converging on precisely the type of social conditions in which Marx lived."^[8]

In a separate interview, Barker also discussed the film's use of animation, in particular his decision to parodyThe Matrix, admitting that although it was an "obvious parody" and "fun to make", there was also a philosophical dimension to the animation scenes in which Marx meetsLeon Trotsky andSlavoj Žižek.^[9]

Marx Reloaded features interviews with several well-known philosophers, among them those often associated withMarxism andCommunist ideas, includingJohn Gray,Michael Hardt,Antonio Negri, Nina Power,Jacques Rancière,Peter Sloterdijk,Alberto Toscano andSlavoj Žižek.^[4][6] The film also includesanimation scenes with Marx trapped in a surreal world resembling the 1999science fiction–action filmThe Matrix, which starredKeanu Reeves andLaurence Fishburne. In one such animated scene Marx (Jason Barker) encountersLeon Trotsky (Ivan Nikolic) in a pastiche of thered pill and blue pill scene inThe Matrix in which Reeves' characterNeo first meets Fishburne's characterMorpheus.

Marx Reloaded had its TV premiere onArte on 11 April and was repeated on 20 April. The film was subsequently broadcast on theRomanian television channelB1 TV on 12 August 2011,^[10] followed by a studio debate involving political analyst Dinu Flămând, journalistCristian Tudor Popescu and writer Vasile Ernu.

On 25 September 2011 the film was screened (out of competition) at the 2011DMZ International Documentary Film Festival.^[11] The screening was followed by a panel discussion involving writer-director Jason Barker, Professor Taek-Gwang Lee ofKyung Hee University and Yongjune Park, the editor of Indigo, an English-language Korean humanities magazine.^[12] Both the film and director^[13] were the subject of national press coverage in theHankook Ilbo.

On 3 October 2011 the film had its Serbian premiere at the Centre for Cultural Decontamination inBelgrade,^[14] with further screenings planned in the same venue on 20, 21 and 24 October.^[15]

Marx Reloaded premiered in the UK on 10 February 2012 at theInstitute of Contemporary Arts in London, where it screened to sell-out audiences^[16] until 20 April.^[1]

Reviews of the film have been positive.Time Out London described it as containing "enough interesting ideas to make this well worth a watch for those with an interest in philosophy, politics and the general state of the world as we know it."^[17]Little White Lies called it an "engaging hour-long talking-head-meets-animation doc"; "the film shines a light on the many causes of the financial crumble, creating a compelling dialogue of Marx's theories on capitalism as they apply to its contemporary form."^[18] Subtitledonline.com awarded the film three out of a possible five stars, although criticized it for its "failure to balance quirky presentation with challenging content".^[19]

As well as reviewsThe Financial Times featured the film as part of its "Capitalism in Crisis" series, followed by an interview with Jason Barker and the editor ofNew Left Review,Robin Blackburn.^[20]

The London Evening Standard cited the film alongside the 2012 re-edition ofThe Communist Manifesto (introduced byEric Hobsbawm) andOwen Jones' best-selling bookChavs: The Demonization of the Working Class as evidence of a resurgence of left-wing ideas.^[16]

On 16 December 2011, the first in a series of public debates entitled "Blue or Red Pill?" (Crvena ili plava pilula?) was held at the Centre for Cultural Decontamination (CZKd), Belgrade, in which the social and political themes from the film were explored. Serbian film directorŽelimir Žilnik – himself noted for his socially-engaged film-making, most recently in the 2009 filmStara škola kapitalizma – participated in the event along with Jason Barker.^[21]

A second debate took place on 15 February 2012 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), in which theBBCNewsnight economics editorPaul Mason, theblogger andThe Independent journalistLaurie Penny, andRobin Blackburn joined Jason Barker. The debate considered the implications of Marx's work in the context of a growing popular resistance to the global economic and financial crisis, and whether the revolutionary change advocated by Marx had finally arrived: "Is humanity standing at a crossroads where a decision – and by whom or in whose name? – for 'another world' must be taken?"^[22]

• Karl Marx in film

• Official website
• Marx Reloaded atIMDb
• Marx Reloaded Review at The Original Sonic Truth blog
• Marx Reloaded trailer onYouTube