Movie Review: ZEITGEIST: THE MOVIE (2007)
By way of introduction, Mike Ross is one of our valued APPLEBOX members and most knowledgeable doco watcher! He has kindly offered to review ‘Zeigeist’ for us, and so here are his thoughts.
REVIEWER: Michael Clunies-Ross
ZEITGEIST: THE MOVIE, 2007
Writer/Director Peter Joseph.
Here’s a movie that will either knock your socks off, bore you to death with its length, generate extreme paranoia-turning you into a mad conspiracy nut, or it will just confuse the hell out of you and lead to hours of pointless web research and possible alcoholism.
Zeitgeist is a German expression meaning ‘the spirit of the age.’ The film aims to shock and scare viewers about the bastard political climate we all live in. If you liked the Manchurian Candidate, or are a bit of a conspiracy theorist, then this is right up your ally. It is not a light Sunday viewing, and a bad choice if you have guests over or feel like relaxing with a laugh. In fact, it might make you cry. That is, if you believe it all.
There are three parts to the film. The first focuses on religion and tries to shock, scare and enlighten you about the true story behind the bible. Jesus, stars and Horus’ black all-seeing eye (like the one in Lord of the Rings) are the main focus in part one. To any Christian or person who is slightly religious, part one is basically a slap in the face with a cold steak. You can take it seriously, or with a grain of salt. It made me want to buy a telescope.
Part two focuses on 9/11, terrorists who can’t fly planes, Bush, JFK and a whole bunch of other conspiracies that might make you feel a little queezy.
Part three is called Don’t Mind the Men Behind the Curtain, which describes a bunch of nasty banksters, chiefly JP Morgan, Rockefeller and Rothschild of the Federal Reserve who control the money system and therefore, everything. I always thought Rockefeller was just an old-school musician.
Zeitgeist won the 2008 Artvist Documentary Film Award and seems to have captured a lot of interest in many countries. I say have few drinks to help you watch this film, which can leave a bit of a chip on the shoulder. It tries to end optimistically and send a message that you can actually do something to prevent a horrible New World Order, but probably not.