It’s Documentary Thursday at reviews.thepete.com, when I post a pocket review of a documentary on a given topic that interests me. One thing to bear in mind is that not all documentaries deserve the name “documentary.” However, not all documentaries have to include a British-accented voice-over and a big-money distributor to be worth watching.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely a positive experience, but I think the filmmaker was a little overzealous with some of the shock treatment-style cinematic devices he uses in this film. This is another in an ever-longer line of “opiniontaries” that generally try to come across as a documentary but ultimately are just trying to put forward their own agenda. Not that this is that different from what other “more acceptable” documentaries do.
Technically any good? This film is incredibly effective. Moving at a quick pace, this film picks you up, carries you along, smacks the crap out of you (and your belief systems) and then drops you off at the side of the road like a cheap prostitute. I’ve heard from friends and strangers that this film changed their lives. I can’t say it changed mine, but it did have an effect.
Over the years I’ve watched a LOT of so-called “conspiracy documentaries.” They all claim to have the answers and the truth and the warnings about the coming “New World Order” blah-blah-blah. I watch them because they are hilarious and, creepily enough, sometimes accurate. Zeitgeist takes the best, most believable of these conspiracy theories and rolls them into one film.
For that reason, I think this is the most effective film to watch if you’re growing dissatisfied with the way the world is run. Zeitgeist does a good job of explaining where our culture comes from and where it is likely going (though I didn’t find myself agreeing with it all the time).
Sadly, it gets mired in 911-related shock tactics that made me wonder if the filmmaker realized how hypocritical he was actually being. Like most opiniontaries, this one gets a few things wrong and the film’s use of what Naomi Klein calls “The Shock Doctrine” as a cinematic technique has the power to undo the rest of the good the film does.
How did it leave me feeling? Definitely educated. After growing up a news-junky and then spending the last seven years exploring the world of conspiracies (for a novel series I’ve written), I do have to say that I have no idea what to believe about our past, present or future. And this film doesn’t help make things clearer.
It does point out a lot of evidence that suggests our civilization is largely built on lies told by power-hungry people who want to control everything through the control of money.
Gotta admit, the film has a point.
Final Rating? GSN – Go See Now – BUT WITH A WARNING: While Zeitgeist is a genuinely powerful and effective movie, it does rely on many of the same tactics it criticizes the “ruling elite” of using to control the masses. It’s important to watch ANY documentary with a clear and critical mind. And most importantly, when you’re done watching it, do some research. Read up on some of the things you’ve been told about.
If nothing else, by presenting such a radically negative view of Western Society, documentaries like this remind us to think for ourselves. Even if you don’t agree, it’s important to consider what other people say. Zeitgeist, I think, nails a lot of things on the head, but it’s not for the faint of heart.
Click the poster image above to go to the official site where you can watch the movie and its sequel (I’ll be reviewing it next week), or buy copies of both on DVD.
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