Prosecutorial power: Abacus demonstrates how much power the government has when
it accuses a business of committing a crime. The filmmakers argue that the State of New
York (represented by the District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, Jr) misused its power, in that
the government put a culture and that culture’s way of doing business on trial. Describe the ways the government used (or abused) its power in accusing the bank of wrongdoing,
describe the ways that the family fought back, and discuss whether you agree with the
filmmakers that this film represents the illegitimate dominance of one culture over
another in the film a civil action
