This a great little movie with everything an excellent documentary needs; pathos, drama, tragedy and humour. Anthony Baxter comes across as a very sympathetic and empathetic filmmaker who gets to know the subjects of him film - the residents of Balmedie - very well and obviously gains their trust and friendship.The theme - ordinary people being steamrollered by corporate greed - is a classic one, and as the central figure of Trump so typifies the careless, thoughtless greed of corporate America it makes for one hell of a drama. Great film. Well worth watching. And look out for the sequel!

Documentaries exist to tell a story that may have been neglected by the mainstream media or to reveal more information about a popular issue. They're creatures that can be erected from almost any subject, given a band's new lead singer, school bullying, healthcare, a sex-scandal, a critique on a president, or even a fast food restaurant. You've Been Trumped follows a story that, specifically, we may not have heard about, but we certainly can't be too surprised is coming to light. This is yet another case of a multi-billion dollar corporation attempting to get the better of the smaller man, further emphasizing personal gain and greatly limiting those ill-equipped with the ability to defend themselves.The film focuses on American billionaire extraordinare Donald Trump, who in 2007, decided to carry out plans to construct an eighteen-hole golf course, 1,500 townhouses, and a five star hotel all on the gorgeous land of Aberdeen, Scotland. The land was a conservation area, with sand dunes that were claimed to have been there for thousands of years, posing enormous environmental controversy. Some of Scotland's purest, most unrefined land would soon become home to conventional landscapes. I stand with the late, great George Carlin on the idea of golf courses; why must we devote millions of beautiful acres to a game? But Trump feels it must be done, and is willing to get it done even if he has to deliberately drive local resident/farmer Michael Forbes out of the area. Forbes' home is located right outside where the hotel would go, and he feels that seeing his "pig sty" farm would appall his customers. What Trump claims to be brutally honest in his remarks about Forbes' farm that bears years of history comes off as nothing but pompous babble that shows his ignorance and stunning sourness more-so than any figure would seemingly allow. We see how far Trump's humiliation and persistency will go; he winds up cutting off Forbes' electricity and water.Director Anthony Baxter chronicles the long, multimillion dollar battle between Trump, Forbes, the Scotland government, and the environmental agencies, who Trump feels he has smitten, when really, they couldn't be more opposed to the construction. What we get is a story that was definitely fit for documentation. This is yet another entry in the line of documentaries I've seen that show depressing corporate manipulation in order to make more of themselves and less of everyone else. I recently watched a terribly underrated Swedish documentary called Big Boys Gone Bananas!*, which detailed the story of an indie filmmaker who tried to expose the banana-giant Dole for using an illegal pesticide on their banana crop. What followed was an endless array of court cases, appeals, lawsuits, media trouble, slandering, etc, showing just what happens when indie cinema crashed with a corporate tycoon. It was a documentary that completely exercised its first amendment right, and showed how it was being taken away in a particular situation.If there's one thing that stuns me about You've Been Trumped, it's not Trump's bitter, remorseless bigotry, it's how people are reacting to it. Did you honestly expect Donald Trump a charming persona. Should he? Due to his highly-acclaimed status, I'd say definitely. But no, he's a businessman, a cut-throat one I may add. That doesn't make his actions anymore justifiable or acceptable, but are businesspeople the kind you paint with the brush of charm? Trump's arrogant and grossly disrespectful attitude is one to particularly loathe, but given the fact that he basks in the pompous light of attention and relentlessly competes for headlines, whether it be a million-dollar donation to a charity in exchange for the president's birth certificate or a presidential nominee, it isn't one that is desperately hard to believe.For a debut filmmaker, Baxter could not have opened his film career with a more deeper and poignant work if he tried. There is a point in the documentary where he is even handcuffed and taken into police custody; a scene which becomes a wraparound for this film, showing the unbelievable "every man for himself" battleground Trump's presence in Scotland has turned the entire community.It should also be noted that Baxter serves as the cinematographer here as well, often painting Scotland as the giant landscape of beauty it has always been known for. It's so beautiful and incalculably valuable, we hate to see the land lost nothing but greedy, uncompromising tactics from a billionaire suit. While this is undoubtedly a documentary with a relatively unsurprising story, it's nonetheless a story that deserves to be told through the competent lens of Baxter.Starring: Donald Trump and Michael Forbes. Directed by: Anthony Baxter.

'You've been Trumped' tells a true story that should make everyone very angry indeed. Donald Trump proposes building a new golf course in Scotland; the potentially lucrative nature of the deal lies in getting planning permission to build where otherwise would not be allowed. He duly gets permission, and it's hard to avoid concluding that the man's ego, reputation and bombast are actually his company's key assets: that he can get the opportunity to cash in on the change of use when a better (but less well promoted) proposal would have been automatically rejected (in fact, Trump's proposal only got through after the Scottish government specifically intervened to over-rule the local planners). But let's assume the development is economically justified. We still live under the rule of law; and it's natural to hope that the police would be on the side of the little guy threatened by the force of overwhelming money. But not a bit of it: we see how, when Trump disputes his boundary with a neighbour, the police come to protect not only Trump's property, but also his freedom to damage his neighbours'; while the film-maker gets himself arrested for doing nothing illegal but simply for documenting this unequal fight. That the authorities refuse to appear in the film to justify their actions makes the point eloquently. It's sad (in my opinion) that the beautiful dunes at Balmedie have been destroyed; but even more alarming for the side government is ultimately on to be so starkly revealed.

You've Been Trumped is a movie that, hopefully will go down in history as one of the great environmental documentaries, alongside Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. manages to not only be an upsetting, interesting, and engaging documentary, made by a first time film maker, but a brilliantly made film as well. Not to mention the fact that it is often laugh out loud funny and features a sound track to rival many Tarantino films. The greatest accomplishment of You've Been Trumped, however, is that it is pretty much guaranteed to make you hate Donald Trump even more than you already do. It paints him as more than just a profiteering industrialist looking to make a quick buck at the expense of the environment. It also manages to include moments of his blatantly lying to reporters, as well as a subtle moment of him totally objectifying women for the sake of money. It should say something that this little documentary that has only been to a couple film festivals so far has provoked a huge reaction from Trump himself. He has made statements calling the film makers frauds and refusing to see the film because its "boring".The basic story of You've Been Trumped is that Donald Trump set out to build "The World's Greatest Golf Course" and picked out as the location a Scottish beach. The thing is that this particular beach has sand dunes that are essentially the British equivalent of a National Monument. Despite this, he was given government approval to destroy the dunes. At this point, he thought he had won. The British and Scottish governments had given him carte blanche. The one thing he hadn't counted on was the resistance of a few local farmers, who's families had owned their land for generations, against the development. The film charts their fight to protect their land from essentially being bulldozed by Trump.The film is brilliant not just for the way it charts the destruction that Trump does, both against the environment, and against the people, but because it is so well made. For one thing it looks gorgeous. Of course part of that comes naturally when you are shooting in some of the most gorgeous country on earth, but considering the budget and experience of those involved, its amazing how good You've Been Trumped looks. Even other than in the cinematography, the film is very well made. Even during the slower moments in terms of the plot, the film always feels interesting thanks to the great direction and editing.You've Been Trumped is one of the best documentaries in years, and hopefully it will go on to win further recognition. It has only been to a few film festivals so far, but it has already won a few awards. It is emotionally potent, as well as being politically strong enough to inspire people to action. It is put together better than documentaries with twice the budget. Hopefully it will go on to have a great run and make enough of a splash to do some serious damage to Trump's Monopoly.