Big Picture Big Sound

Bulletin!! - Some People Don't Like Jews!!

Conspiracy theories have always been around. With the advent of the Internet they have multiplied one hundred fold. This movie explores perhaps the granddaddy of all of these theories. ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' is a book that was first published in the late 19th century. It tells the harrowing tale of a secret worldwide plan whereby Jews were going to take over the planet and basically turn the rest of the people into their servants. The book laid the groundwork for exterminating Jews in Russia by showing all of the non-Jewish Russians that the Jews were evil. They probably didn't need the book to stir the Russians into a frenzy but it didn't exactly hurt their cause either. Approximately 30 years later the book was proved to be a forgery but as Winston Churchill once said, "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."

The book later served as part of the groundwork for Hitler's Mein Kampf and has never quite disappeared. It festers from time to time when there is something that can fan its flames (and book sales). "Protocols of Zion" is an attempt to explain why and how the book has once again picked up a head of steam as a result of the World Trade Center's demise. Almost immediately after the towers fell, headlines appeared throughout the mainstream Arab press (as well as the lunatic fringe press in all other countries). Remarkable claims of Jews being forewarned of the tragedy and that because of this no Jews showed up for work on that horrific day.

Levin tells us of the history of the book and the camera follows him and his father as they meet those that truly believe that the Jews were responsible for what happened in New York. He tries to inject humor into parts of the film and for the most part it works, but the underlying reality remains chilling. The problem with "Protocols of Zion" is that it is of the quality one might expect from grad student at a place like NYU. Okay, it's better than that, but not by all that much. It's more of a voyeur's look into the underbelly than a cohesive and coherent film. The filmmaker draws no conclusions other than this is all a really bad thing. Maybe there is nothing more that can be said about a story like this and his task is too much for him. It's a commendable effort but nothing more than that. Cut a half hour out of it and put it on PBS and it would probably be a much more powerful broadcast. If you are in the mood to marvel at the stupidity of mankind it's worth a viewing. If you don't want to expend the energy or money to see it you can type "Jew" and "evil" into your search engine and read all about it.