Les protocoles de la rumeur

This edgy doc hopefully will engage viewers in the politics and psychology of hate better then it's countless counterparts, no doubt due to Marc Levin's dedication to actual documentation rather then agenda pushing. While this Jewish director obviously believes in his cause, his unabashed objectivity in showing his detractors method's does not necessarily nullify some of their villainous claims. This makes for a more interesting, more accessible anti-violence work, rather then the strict anti-Semitic angle some will only be willing to see. The production and technical limitations are there, but this heated film should not have you worried about it's occasional visual setbacks. Despite it's scattered nature, what helps separate this discussion on hate, and so much more crucially-ignorance, from many countless other similar fare is the many less polished voices displaying the hungry undertones that haunt our less fortunate people spiritually caught up in the Isreali/Palistinian or America/Iraq debate. Levin is humble enough to hear the knowledge anyone has, not just "officials" mired in their own rhetoric. Instead we get the views of all different collective rhetoric's and it is only in that detached vantage point does one hopefully realize the futile and destructive nature of doing nothing more then misreading our own internal hatred for any miserable excuse of a life, and projecting it outward to the unknown in order to deny it's origin. Complete cycles of utterly mind blowing movements of human stupidity may be averted once simple psychological truths like the analysis of blind hatred can be understood by any average joe. All righteous filmmakers: may you continue to articulate these sentiments in these increasingly tense times.

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.

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.

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.

This was too preachy for me. There were actually several scenes where the filmmaker was on camera preaching to the people he was supposed to be interviewing.

In general, it focused too heavily on pointing out the logical fallacies in "The Protcols of the Elders of Zion." That was unnecessary, in my opinion, because most people watching this movie already understand that "The Protcols" are nonsense.

It would've been more interesting if Levin had included a bit more information about the earlier history of "The Protocols," including their original concoction by the czarists and how they were used before and during the Nazi era, maybe with some documents describing how the Nazis got "The Protocols" into Germans' and other Europeans' hands.