Hashmatsa (2009)

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1. 

   steelforge

   Average. Worth a watch if you fast-forward some parts.
   
   The good:
   There's an important message about not trusting politically-motivated groups. The coverage of the ADL was definitely an interesting new perspective I've never seen. Especially the excess of nonsensical complaints with which they are flooded and which compromise the integrity of their data.
   
   The children demonstrate a specific cross section of the next generation in Israel. Though not representative, the footage did show the need to be concerned about how some of Israel's kids are being allowed to develop a dangerous mistrust towards the rest of the world, reminiscent of the poisonous environments found in Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, where the population is actively and intentionally taught to hate both Israel and the US.
   
   
   The bad:
   It felt like Shamir did a half-ass job actually studying the subject (which he confesses to knowing nothing about to begin with), lazily getting at easily accessible material. There is real anti-semitism out there, more than enough of it, but it's not seen here, not even mentioned. Not a single Arab was interviewed, which is big shame since it's they who are the prime target of being accused (whether fairly or not) of defamation.
   He gets too involved, and even confrontational with some of the subjects. When allowing for this unorthodox method, he seemed unprepared to properly probe and we simply get whatever happened to come out with little to no footage ending up on the editing room floor. The conversation with the handful of (again, nonrepresentative) black residents of Crown Heights comes to mind- sloppy from the first question (the "two guys walking down the street" trope).
   The last scene of a schoolgirl also demonstrated this-

   she started out with a wonderful Lennon-esque discussion of the futility of violence, but was drawn back by Shamir into the cyclical cesspool of hatred.

   So much for being an impartial observer.
   
   The introduction of a counterpoint to the ADL was minimal. The distinction between historical and political hatred cannot be emphasized enough, but the advocates representing this view will probably be seen by many viewers as crackpots rather than a reasonable alternative in a long-overdue debate. Seriously- do you think "interviewing" a guy as he walks down the stairs, and another standing in a doorway after an event is proper? As always, the possibility of clear and intelligent discussion got trumped by bombastic idiocy.
   
   There was far too much coverage of the children. They're obviously the wrong people to ask about a serious subject. That particular bunch seemed especially immature for Israeli kids. Their chaperons were prime examples of lousy teachers, the exception rather than exceptional, but to be expected in an urbanized school ("ironi" literally means urban).
   
   The English subtitles weren't bad for the most part. The worst offense was the mistranslation of "להנציח" to "perpetuate"- inept at best, malicious at worst (the proper word should have been "commemorate"). The translation got terribly sloppy towards the end. 11 years 8 months ago
2. 

   gulliver

   Good documetary that will give you input for reflection. 13 years 2 months ago

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