Protocols of Zion (2005) Reviews

• A promising, yet disappointing film

  jtolleson2006-07-16

  This documentary has a promising start: a report on the current day use of the discredited anti-Semitic fraud, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." Levin is at his best when he's covering how this silly false text is still being cited by anti-Semitic political activists, white supremacists, and the like. Actually, he could have spent even more time describing the theories regarding the document's source and history. Unfortunately, he loses focus. After giving his main topic too abbreviated a treatment, he takes a scattershot approach which is ultimately a superficial analysis of 20th and 21st century anti-Semitism and the politics of Israel. Covering the issues of anti-Semitism and Roman Catholicism (and more pointedly, anti-Semiticism in the "Passion of the Christ") for example, could have been its own documentary. Instead, it is just a misplaced digression in this movie. Next, a presentation of anti-Semitism among Arab-Americans and Palestian-Americans, their motives and their views, takes up about 30 minutes of film. In reality, each of these major themes: the current role of the Protocols in anti-Semitics politics, the tension between the Christian church and Judaism dating back to the Crucifixion, and the Arab-Israali conflict could take up its own proper treatment via documentary. Levin does each a disservice by trying to cover all in one modest film.

• not a documentary or debunking of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

  FieCrier2008-03-13

  Disappointing documentary, totally misnamed, and even if retitled, still pretty scattershot. The filmmaker starts with the question of why Jews were blamed for 9/11 and returns to that in the end, but he doesn't really even explore that issue. He also digs out an old box of JFK conspiracy material he collected as a kid, to serve no particular point. Perhaps he means to show how conspiracies can be appealing, though he doesn't say so. There's random footage of various anti-Semitic historical figures, and ignorant people on the street. There's some, but not much, by way of balance - gentiles who don't believe the Protocols or who don't harbor prejudice against the Jews. As others have noted, he seems bigoted against Arabs, and is rather confrontational and didactic. A shame, really.

• starts with a central point, but loses it somewhere

  selfishbastid2006-07-17

  First of all, it's a very interesting theory. Jews being warned about 9/11, a plan for global domination, etc. However, it doesn't stay focused on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, it becomes a window into anti-Semetic sentiments in the U.S. on a whole. For this reason I think it should have a different title, because it's misleading. A loose theme pervades the film by stretching out the different protocols as the filmmaker encounters different opinions on Jews in general. There are very passionate views expressed throughout, some pro-Jew and some not. What makes it compelling viewing is that so many people want to believe that Jews are responsible for the evil in the world, when in fact they have been on both sides of the equation from the beginning of time. Yes, there are many Jews who have prospered in America and throughout Europe, but at what cost? Why are the perceptions of Jews so extreme? Why do all the Palestinians in the movie come across so angry and full of venom towards Jews? Why do so many Jews hate the government, or current administration, if in fact they are so powerful within it? These are all topics I wanted to see more of. So, to summarize, Protocols isn't a bad film by any means, however I found the title to be misleading.

• Interesting and entertaining, if a bit rambling

  ink-stained2005-11-12

  The Protocols was obviously a very personal project for Levin, his chance to get at the eternal question: why always the Jews? It was inspired by a single conversation the filmmaker had with an Arab cabdriver who was convinced that Israel was behind the 9-11 attacks. How did the cab driver know this? Because he had read it in the book "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." The century-old book purports to be the minutes of a secret meeting of Jewish leaders in which they lay out their plans for world domination. In fact, it's a fraud; most of the book was plagiarized from earlier works of fiction. Mainstream western society declared it out-of-bounds over 80 years ago. Yet as Levin documents the book remains remarkably popular both on the fringes of American society and throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds. Levin tries to get to the bottom of this by interviewing neo-Nazis, Palestinians, radical black activists, conspiracy theorists, Christian evangelical leaders and various Jews. The most fascinating and disturbing bits are clips from Arab TV shows which dramatize the Protocols as if they were historical fact. He never quite gets to the bottom of it -- he's not exactly the most probing of interviewers -- but the results are never less than fascinating. He deserves enormous credit for his bravery in talking to many of these people as well as his willingness to explore the "don't go there" areas of Jewish conspiracy myths. Watch it with some friends then go to a coffee shop and have a good discussion.

• Zionists! Yikes!

  Spuzzlightyear2005-10-08

  Protocols Of Zion is a bit of a fun documentary that sort of dives into the subject of anti-semitism, by covering the strange popularity of The Protocols of Elders Of Zion and how people took what was in that book as complete fact. The filmmaker, Marc Levin, takes us on a trip around North America (but mostly around New York) and talks to a wide range of folk, from Skinheads to Sikh leaders to yes, Rob Reiner, to try to get down to the Zion mystery, on the way he finds out that people make up the weirdest things about the Jews. Did you know they were pre-warned about September 11th? That they run Hollywood? These and other fallacies are explored, but rather lightly I found, nothing really extreme here.