It’s the American dream inflated to ridiculous extremes, and I was strangely absorbed yet morally disgusted by this engaging documentary about a cultures’ obsession with money and the banking system that enables it. This revealing look into the world of people aspiring to a life they can’t afford was a hit at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and I can certainly understand why. Filmmaker Lauren Greenfield brings us “The Queen of Versailles,” a compelling documentary about a dysfunctional, filthy rich family and their financial challenges in the wake of the 2008 economic meltdown.
The film follows David Siegel, America’s wealthiest and most successful timeshare mogul, and his trophy wife Jackie, a former beauty queen from Florida. Their triumphant construction of the biggest house in America is showcased; a 90,000-square-foot replica of Louis XIV’s 17th century palace at Versailles complete with a health spa, a bowling alley, two tennis courts, a baseball field, a parking lot, 10 kitchens and a ballroom.
Their escapades are bound to provoke some eye rolling from the average onlooker.
Over the next two years their empire, fed by the real estate bubble and bargain basement fast cash, topples due to the fiscal crisis. Major changes in their lives arise, from the household of family members to the domestic staff. Obviously their plans to complete the decadent jewel of a house come to a screeching halt when David’s company is sued for unpaid bills and they are forced to sell their planes, resorts and dude ranch.
I took no pleasure in their humbling experience of encountering financial worries after their business collapses. It reveals how both the rich and poor suffered from the banks’ shenanigans. Most of their maids and cooks are laid off. The few who remain are unable to maintain the household. Pets start dying from lack of food and basic care. Jackie and the spoiled kids don’t do much to help the overwhelmed nanny, Virginia Nehab.
Greenfield is careful not to intentionally humiliate the family; instead she probes into their complex lives and how they fight back to preserve what they can of their empire. The Siegels are portrayed as regular folks who got caught up in the belief that their investment schemes with the bank would last forever. Perhaps some of the most disturbing scenes are when David and his scum-sucking company, Westgate Resorts, are forced to lay off thousands of employees, vowing to fire even more in the event of an Obama re-election.
To paraphrase Lewis Black, I don’t know how the Siegel’s employees can watch this movie and not rise up and slay them.
