This film had a lot of promise, and indeed there are moments where the filmmaker gets out of the way enough for it to succeed, most notably a confrontation between Jews and Arabs on a city street in France. But by and large, the inappropriate sarcasm of the filmmaker/narrator makes this film offensive to me. At Auschwitz, his lack of respect for the dead and for the import of where he is is truly mind-boggling, and comes off as anti-Semitic. Those anti-Semitic tones -- not from others, but from the filmmaker himself, whether he is Jewish or not -- echo throughout the film. I'm sure he thought he was being sarcastic or funny, but it's neither -- it's nothing more than intentionally offensive.
There is an arrogance to the way that the filmmaker looks at those around him that is very off-putting -- those that criticize Michael Moore for making his films too much about him will hate this film. Come to think of it, I suppose the entire time Kastner is really just doing a bad Moore impersonation. Really bad.
The thesis is generally muddled -- it's supposed to be about what Jewish identity means, but the film meanders and often goes off on tangents that seem unrelated to the stated goal of the film. Still, it's unfortunate that the film doesn't work given the great potential of plumbing the important issue of anti-Semitism in the world. I just wish so much didn't come from the filmmaker.
There is an arrogance to the way that the filmmaker looks at those around him that is very off-putting -- those that criticize Michael Moore for making his films too much about him will hate this film. Come to think of it, I suppose the entire time Kastner is really just doing a bad Moore impersonation. Really bad.
The thesis is generally muddled -- it's supposed to be about what Jewish identity means, but the film meanders and often goes off on tangents that seem unrelated to the stated goal of the film. Still, it's unfortunate that the film doesn't work given the great potential of plumbing the important issue of anti-Semitism in the world. I just wish so much didn't come from the filmmaker.