Reviews

Norman Finkelstein may indeed be a 'self-made pariah' of his time but this is not in vain and his resonance will likely have a positive enduring influence well beyond his time. Why isn't this obvious to everyone?

People can't really find Finkelstein wrong, they just don't want him to speak. Norman here offers informed, truthful discussion and so many people rail against his desire for his clear, open dialogue. It's as though we're so mired in our hypocrisy just speaking the truth is banned. This is a terrible life situation made clear several times in the content of this well-made documentary. This man is tirelessly and unrelentingly committed to logical clarity and humaneness concerning the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Why is that even 'radical' and not common sense?

This film about Professor Finkelstein's 'radical' activism has value. Watching and hearing people trying to bring him down It is difficult not to feel extreme disappointment in our fellow man's principles and character, yet despite this I want to dig deep and find more determination for what hope humanity may have left. So there's a notably positive net result to the Professor's cause. I felt a similar mixture of despair and defiance - even faith? - once while visiting the concentration camp memorial in Dachau, Germany. 'We're terrible at our worst, yet we're all One, and must somehow continue as one' was my galvanizing thought about humanity as I wandered, dazed in that horrifying place.

Norman Finkelstein has a particular gift - he immediately inspires many people to think and speak, humanely. That's far from a futile waste of anyone's time, and well worth the trouble it gets him.

I won't tell you the end, but if you find yourself asking 'why--??' several times during the film, my sympathies, and don't expect a quick answer. Many things make a lot more sense in 'replay' after viewing the whole movie. So, the questions. Why are the characters behaving this odd way, or talking about that, what's he doing parked here and why isn't he calling back so-and-so?

This film brilliantly holds back and frustrates. Why all the intimate, mundane details? You are made to see the interior of the characters - flawed, dopey, incomprehensible - and you are forced to accept them interiorly as human beings, empathize with them, long before you have a chance to slap a label on their exterior. You might all the long while keep asking 'where is THIS going, are they taking the mickey from me here with an art house film' - well could be or not. I just like the unconventional refusal to reveal the subtext of what's going on that baffles the 'un-spoiled' viewer.

So, we with our perplexity and questions in mind are both denied the satisfaction of knowing answers and seeded bits of data for much later. One of the most chilling lines, looking back on it is the young woman's reference to her former roommate. Such land mines of information are scripted for a delayed explosion of significance.

I tried not to give up on the film early on and for this I was ultimately rewarded with a very good, empathetic human story.