"The Take" is a highly relevant, tragic, and somewhat inspiring documentary about the devastating effects of globalization, and the abrupt economic decline of Argentina.

The film is unapologetically left wing, and it provides a healthy alternative to the uncritical, pro corporate news that we often get in the United States.

Avi Lewis directed and co-produced the film, which was written and co-produced by Naomi Klein.

Lewis is a newcomer to feature film, but he directed "Gustavo Benedetto: Presente!" an acclaimed short about a protester that was killed in Buenos Aries at his very first protest. Lewis was the host and producer of CBN Newsworld's "Counterspin," a program dedicated to counteracting right wing media bias (see http://www.fair.org/counterspin/).

Naomi Klein was featured in "The Corporation," and she also authored the book "No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies," which takes on monopolies.

Klein appears in "The Take," interviewing Argentinean citizens and her on-screen persona is stern, thoughtful, and serious. She wisely avoids trying to replicate Michael Moore's "guerilla political clown" approach, which would not fit this subject matter. The film combines persuasive interviews with informative clips, which provide a historical context for the situation.

Argentina has successful companies that were mostly owned by Argentineans and the government. At one point, the country was poised to match Canada in terms of economic prosperity. The film traces the abrupt shift in presidential policy, which caused the almost total collapse of one of the most prosperous Latin American countries.

President Carlos Menem quickly derailed the economic boom. Under the influence of the IMF, he privatized companies overnight. His administration passed a series of laws that encouraged and protected foreign investors without protecting his own people. At the same time he weakened the network of social programs which protected the working class.

What eventually happened was that when some of the companies ceased to be prosperous the foreign investors pulled all their money, but private Argentinean citizens were not allowed to withdraw their own money. There was an economic panic, and much of the country ended up as economically barren as Flint, Michigan.

Then an extraordinary thing happened. Some of the displaced workers took over closed factories and started producing. The workers had no manager, and they divided up profits equally. A soon as the factory became prosperous again; the owner rematerialized and demanded to reassert control over the factory.

Incredibly, at one point the workers managed to repel the police with only slingshots.

"The Take" features fascinating interviews with many of the heroic factory workers, but we don't get to hear much of the owner's side. It's possible that he refused to do an extensive interview, but it undermines the film's pretence of objectivity a bit.

Despite this flaw, "The Take" is a riveting look at one of the more memorable episodes in recent history.

The film's condemnation of the effects of globalization on the poor makes it a fitting companion to Kari Lyderson's recent book, "Out of the Sea and Into the Fire," which is on a similar subject.