PROTOCOLS OF ZION

by Joe Barber on Nov.13, 2005, under Joe Barber's Movie Reviews

JOE’S REVIEW: “PROTOCOLS OF ZION”

A Nazi propagandist once boasted that a lie can circle the world twice before the truth ever gets started. Unfortunately, despite the fact-or because of the fact-that technology has made our planet a smaller place, that boast seems more accurate than ever before. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, a despicable lie had spread to nearly every corner of the world. This lie claimed that no Jews died in the attacks in New York City, that they had been warned in advance to stay away from the World Trade Center that fateful morning.

Documentary filmmaker Marc Levin, a native New Yorker, was told this ridiculous story by a seemingly intellegent young cab driver a few weeks after the explosions occured. The man cited as his source for the information a book called “The Protocols of The Elders of Zion”. Angered and intrigued by the claims of the cabbie, Levin went in search of the book and ended up documenting his personal journey into the heart of modern Anti-Semitism. “Protocols of Zion”, his new documentary, now opening nationwide in limited (but expanding) release, takes viewers on a compelling and though provoking trip with Levin.

Raised in New York at a time when anti-Jewish attitudes had been largely pushed into the shadows, Levin begins by giving viewers a look at the history behind the creation the the Protocols by the Czar’s secret police in the early years of the 20th century. Despite being crafted totally out of someone’s twisted imagination, this collections of alleged principals of world domination by the Jewish people found its way to the United States and other countries. It was spread in a variety of forms by a number of people, including Henry Ford and Adolph Hitler.

Levin tracksdown some of organizations and individuals spreading this poison and talks with them about their beliefs. He looks at the made fior televcision movies based on the Protocols that air yearly on state controled television networks in some Arab and Muslim countries. He examines the controversey over the portrayal of Jews in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of The Christ”. He trraces the roots of his family history and their scuffles with anti-Jewish sentiment.

The key to the film is Levin’s ability to keep a calm, rational attitude on screen while interviewing such people as the head of the National Underground, the nation’s leading neo-Nazi group or the man who founded “Jew Watch”, one of Google’s top three most visited web sites. He refuses to engage in shouting matches, instead allowing these folks to hang themselves with their own twisted vision of the world. Through research and interviews, he knocks down the alled truth of the protocols and their supporters. Most of all, he points out that the only way to overcome the dangerous lies is to confront and discuss them openly and without fear.

Stirring and certain to stir up discussion and debate, “Protocols of Zion”
is surprisingly humrous in places, deeply movving in other portions and never less than utterly watchable throuhout. In a year loaded with superb documentaries, this is one of the finest.

MPAA RATING: Unrated, but contains a significant amout of profanity.
JOE’S RATING: FOUR STARS.