BECOMING WARREN BUFFET
US, 2017, 90 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Peter W. Kunhardt.
For Americans, Warren Buffett is a well-known financier, the richest man in the United States. However, he has a reputation for good, along with other philanthropists like Bill Gates and his former wife, Melinda. (Bill Gates and Melinda appear during the film, supporting Warren Buffett and his causes, saddening audiences who know of the divorce later).
There is a framework for this documentary which has been directed by Peter W. Kunhardt, prominent with such documentaries about Martin Luther King, King in the Wilderness, and the television series about Barack Obama. The framework is the older Warren Buffett with a group of intelligent school students, giving them a talk, fielding questions, morale boosting.
The film does offer a narrative of Buffett’s origins in Omaha, Nebraska, growing up there, his skills with money (and the symbol of collecting and benefiting by bottle tops). There is a narrative about his relationship with family, with business partners, his doing without layers of bureaucracy and his company, his friendships and support. There is also the factor of his remaining for so long in Nebraska rather than a move to New York City and Wall Street.
There are some re-enactments and reconstructions of his early life, using an actor, and another actor for him in middle age.
Significant throughout the film are interviews, stock footage because she died in 2004, with his wife, Susan, their love, his support, her finding his business life difficult, moving out to California, yet the constant communication between them. There is also her concern about Warren’s life, the friend who cared for him and became his second wife, Astrid. Also interviews, especially with his son. This insight into his family life, relationships, give some background to the business side of the documentary.
There are explanations of Buffett and his business acumen, shrewdness, reading situations, motivated by success rather than any form of greed. There are testimonies of his partner, Charlie Munger.
Then there is the question of his financial situation within the United States, issues of his company and tax, but the main issues of his causes, the extent of his philanthropy, teeming with other philanthropists and the repercussions on his personality.
The documentary also provides a substantial framework for understanding Buffett’s psychological traits and his consequent behaviour, an emphasis on his being a loner, going to his office, spending time reading, thinking; but he is a man of decision, going to action on business deals. As regards his perceptions, he is highly intuitive, reading situations, financial possibilities, collaboration with partners; although, it is stressed, that he was not particularly adept at reading people at an emotional level. (In the tradition of Carl Jung and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, he might identify as INTJ).
An opportunity to appreciate Warren Buffett, his long life, his achievement, his shortcomings, yet a man of character.
