The Art of War compiled well over two thousand years ago by a mysterious Chinese warrior-philosopher, is still perhaps the most prestigious and influential book of strategy in the world today, studied both by military leaders and strategists for the last two millennia and is now being put to use by modern politicians and executives. The success of post war Japan is seen by some as an illustration of Sun Tzu’s dictum of the classic, “To win without fighting is best”. The Art of War applies to competition and conflict in general, on every level from the interpersonal to the international. Its aim is invincibility, victory without battle and unassailable strength through understanding of the physics, politics and psychology of the conflict. The depth of the substance of the book is in itself so deep that the learnings are abstract but filled with wisdom and needs an understanding of the Taoist element to go with it. This post attempts to bring out the elementary teachings of the Art of War through the Movie themes which reflect the same philosophy of this age old literary genius.
Deep Knowledge
In terms of Art of War, the master warrior is likewise the one who knows the psychology and mechanics of the conflict so intimately that every move of an opponent is seen through at once, and one who is able to act in precise accord with situations, riding on their natural patterns with the minimum of effort.
Deep knowledge is to be aware of the disturbance before disturbance, to be aware of danger before the danger, to be aware of destruction before the destruction, to be aware of calamity before the calamity. By deep knowledge of principle, one can change disturbance into order, change danger into safety, change destruction into survival and change calamity into fortune.
Sun Tzu
Movie – The Big Short
The above ingenuity is at best portrayed by the Oscar winning film, The Big Short. The movie is based on the 2010 book of the same name and is a biographical comedy-drama showing how the financial crisis of 2007-08 was triggered by the United States housing bubble. The protagonist in the movie, Dr. Michael Burry (played outstandingly by Christian Bale, who was Oscar nominated for the Best Supporting Actor for the year 2016), is an eccentric hedge fund manager who discovers that the United States housing market is based on the high-risk subprime loans which is extremely unstable.
Dr. Michael Burry with an esoteric knowledge of numbers, plays out the historical trends of the sub-prime loans and discovers the instability of the model on which the US Housing market depended. With the deep knowledge that he possesses, he anticipates the market’s collapse in the second quarter of 2007 and he begins to bet against the market based mortgage-backed securities for profit. This long term bet of his exceeds USD 1 Billion but it requires substantial monthly premiums, which he has to pay to the major investments and commercial banks.
Dr. Michael Burry’s clients’ are unhappy with his approach of wasting capital by paying such huge monthly premiums for a profit that is envisioned only by Michael. Michael’s deep knowledge makes him aware of the disturbance before the disturbance, danger before the danger, destruction before the destruction and calamity before the calamity and with the help of this deep knowledge he attempts to convert danger into safety, destruction into survival and calamity into fortune for himself and for his clients. In 2008, the market eventually collapses and Michael’s fund’s value increases by 489% with an overall profit (even allowing for the massive premiums) of over USD 2.69 Billion. Michael leveraged the principle of Art of War by relying on his deep knowledge about the subject when everyone else were wary of his proceeds.
Subtle and Mysterious
Sun Tzu writes “Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.”
In martial arts, it is important that strategy be unfathomable, that form be concealed, and that movements be unexpected, so that preparedness against them be impossible. What enables a good general to win without fail is always having unfathomable wisdom and a modus operandi that leaves no tracks. Only the formless cannot be affected. Sages hide in unfathomability, so their feelings cannot be observed, they operate in formlessness, so their lines cannot be crossed.
Sun Tzu
Movie – Shawshank Redemption
The movie is based on the 1982 Stephen King novel and tells the story of the banker Andy Dufresne, the part played by Tim Robbins, who is sentenced to life in Shawshank State Prison for the murders of his wife and her lover, despite the claims of his innocence. In reality, Andy is innocent but the evidences go against him and he is sentenced to life imprisonment. Andy is an epitome of subtlety and mystery in the movie which earn him the reputation of being formless. It becomes difficult for the warden and the guards to gauge his character and his thoughts, thereby passing him off as a simpleton who would eventually submit to the harshness of the prison and accept his fate as a prisoner.
Andy befriends Red (Put to life in the movie by the indomitable Morgan Freeman) in the prison, an inmate who procures trivial things for his friends in the prison. Andy requests Red for a small rock hammer and a large poster of the American actress Rita Hayworth, which Red accedes to. The fathomlessness and soundlessness of Andy is brought to fore by the assumption of Red that Andy could be fond of small pebbles, which he collects and gives them shape with the small hammer. At a very later part in the movie, it is revealed that Andy has escaped the prison by having dug a tunnel through his prison cell with the small rock hammer, which took him over 19 years to finish and the poster of Rita Hayworth was used to cover the work in progress tunnel. Just like the Art of War, Andy’s strategy was unfathomable, his form was concealed and his plans so unexpected that preparedness against him was impossible.
A True General
Sun Tzu re-iterates that a general must see alone and know alone, meaning that he must see what others do not see and know what others do not know.
Seeing what others do not see is called brilliance, knowing what others do not know is called genius. Brilliant geniuses win first, meaning that they defend in such a way as to be unassailable and attack in such a way as to be irresistible.
Sun Tzu
Movie – Margin Call
Margin Call is a 2011 drama film whose principal story takes place over a 24 hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the financial crisis of 2007-08 (The same financial crisis as in The Big Short). Treat this movie as the culmination of the eventuality that Michael Burry was expecting – Market crash. There is a specific scene in this movie played by the distinguished Jeremy Irons as the CEO of the bank, who has called a meeting at 2 in the morning to discuss the next steps that the company is expected to take after the knowledge that the markets were bound to crash the next day. The young executive named Sullivan introduces the depressing scenario through financial analytical talk and when asked about whether the music has stopped, he replies that the music is just beginning to slow down.
Jeremy Irons, in his inimitable style, explains the reason as to why he sits at the helm of the affairs of the organisation and suggests that it sure wasn’t brains that got him there. The only reason that he leads the company is to see the things what others do not see and to know what others do not know by foreseeing what will happen a quarter from the day or within a year. The only reason that he earns the big bucks is that, he as a general, can envision the sight that is obscure to others. And thus he accepts his failure as a leader by stating that he doesn’t hear a thing – only silence. The scene in this movie brings home the major attribute of a True General, of knowing the unknown as prominently mentioned by Sun Tzu.
Hope you liked the tangible comparisons of the silver screen with the most treasured document in warfare and strategy. This is the core message that I received from the book The Art of War. It is a great book and I strongly recommend you to read it.
Thanks for reading.
