Actors Sir Ben Kingsley (Shutter Island, Gandhi, Schindler's List), Noel Clarke (Kidulthood, Dr Who), Tom Felton (Harry Potter) Joe Dempsie (Skins), Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners) and Jaime Winstone (Kidulthood) star in a new campaign film for the Robin Hood Tax.
He may have played one of history's greatest pacifists, but Ben Kingsley is in the middle of a bare-knuckle fight against Stephen Harper. The British actor, who won an Oscar as Gandhi, is part of a growing movement pushing a so-called Robin Hood Tax, a levy on financial transactions including the purchases of derivatives or bonds that Prime Minister Harper and many in the sector strongly oppose.
In a short film posted online at RobinHoodTax.org, Mr. Kingsley plays a banker mugged by five do-gooders who root through his pockets - only to grab a single coin, break it in half and, promising to "spend it well," take their leave. As they heroically strut away, a voiceover explains: "There's a new idea called the Robin Hood Tax. We take just 0.05 per cent off every transaction bankers make - small change to them, everything to the poor at home and abroad, and those fighting climate change. Are you with us? It'll raise billions and cost ordinary people nothing."
The ad follows a popular three-minute spot starring Bill Nighy as a banker who slowly withers while a faceless interrogator asks why he would object to a tiny tax, even though the financial sector was rescued by billions in government aid and continues to reward itself handsomely. That ad was made by writer-director Richard Curtis ( Love, Actually), who previously collaborated with Mr. Nighy on The Girl in the Café, an Emmy-winning romance that dealt with the financial obligations of the G8 toward the developing world.
While the idea of a bank tax began as a way to ensure the health of large institutions, it now appears to be feeding the notion of a Robin Hood-style instrument that would take from the rich and give to the poor in support of a bevy of liberal causes such as the environment, education, and universal health care. The campaign's Facebook page has more than 173,000 fans. And this week actor Sienna Miller joined up, promoting a new contest for the best amateur short film in support of the Robin Hood Tax. (They're calling it Tights! Camera! Action!) Are you a banker harbouring Hollywood dreams? Go for it. You have nothing to lose but your job.
Simon Houpt