The Japan Times - Visionary or conman? Elon Musk enigmatic star of Venice documentary

"Musk," premiering Tuesday at the Venice Film Festival, seeks to reframe the story of the world's richest man whose stated ambitions include colonising Mars, transitioning the planet to sustainable energy and protecting free speech, laying bare the "unreality of his narrative," Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney said.

"I wanted to understand what game he is playing," says director Gibney at the start of the film about the man long considered a rule-breaking genius whose erratic behaviour and shift to right-wing politics has alienated -- and confused -- many.

Gibney said Musk's story was "oddly familiar" to him, having treated other larger-than-life characters in past films, from the executives behind the Enron scandal to former Theranos boss Elizabeth Holmes.

"His story is the story of an old wine and a new bottle. His story turns out to be the story of the confidence man, the stock pumper," said Gibney, adding that much of what Musk says "has an air of unreality around it".

Gibney argued that Musk's original "admirable goals" have by now been stained by "noble cause corruption".

"My cause is noble. And therefore, in the pursuit of my cause, I'm willing and able and should be allowed to do anything in pursuit of my cause, and justifies the means," he said.

"That leads to a kind of legal and moral corruption that then allows you to elect a president of the United States whose soul, whose stated goal, is 'Burn, baby, burn, drill, baby, drill,' to actually destroy the planet," he said.

- Cult of Elon -

The cult of Elon is in stark display in the film, from the near-hysterical hero worship of Musk by his Tesla fanboys, to the open arms of Donald Trump and his testosterone-fueled MAGA voters during the 2024 election campaign.

The film tracks Musk's dizzying rise from his early Silicon Valley ventures and his bold innovations at SpaceX and Tesla to his present-day courtship of right-wing leaders across the globe.

"You can't emphasise enough this sort of pragmatic, crony capitalist aspect to his political objectives," Gibney said.

Again and again, the film exposes Musk's bold promises that fall short, whether dangerous limitations in his much-touted Tesla Autopilot technology that have led to fatalities, or pledges to slash waste through the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that have ended life-saving programmes around the world.

Musk called the film a "hit piece" when Gibney first reached out to him to participate, without having seen it.

- Assembly line -

Musk's personal relationships, including the fact that he has fathered at least 14 children by a series of women, also feature in the documentary.

"It's kind of like an assembly line by now," jokes Musk's first wife, Justine, of his growing brood.

Ashley St. Clair, an ex-MAGA influencer and former girlfriend of Musk with whom she has a child, discloses in the film that she rejected a $40 million non-disclosure agreement from the billionaire after their relationship ended.

She said Tuesday she regretted having participated in promoting US right-wing politics, saying an "air of ignorance" influenced her decision.

"But that ignorance does not excuse any role in that. And I hope the risks that I'm taking now in speaking out and trying to fight back, that that at least helps a little bit," St. Clair said.

St. Clair said Musk is "stoking flames that don't exist in the real world" through his controversial and often incendiary comments on X.

"I do believe that he is causing deliberate division that may be catastrophic if it's not regulated or tamed, or if we don't do our part in putting it down," she said.

Gibney, an acclaimed documentarian who won an Oscar in 2008 for "Taxi to the Dark Side", said that while Musk is at the centre of his film, "we're all implicated in the story."

"For Musk, and for many of the tech oligarchs, we've allowed them to create a tremendous amount of power."

S.Suzuki--JT