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'Protocols of Zion': Unfocused, but still ugly

The new documentary "Protocols of Zion" would be almost funny if it weren't so downright disgusting. And depressing.

The title comes from "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," a book written more than 100 years ago, supposedly by some Jewish power brokers who held a secret meeting to draw up their plan to rule the world.

ThinkFilm 'Protocols of Zion' C+ The verdict: The filmmaker gets in the way of his own film, diluting its power. Director: Marc Levin Cast: Marc Levin, Al Levin Run time: 90 minutes Release date: Oct. 21, 2005 Rating: Not rated. See showtimes On the web Official movie site [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Interested?

Well, you can still buy it today. And not just from some nut-case, far-right-wing neo-Nazi group, but at your local Wal-Mart. Or online at Amazon.com. You even have a choice: book, CD or cassette.

But before you purchase your stocking stuffer, you may want to know the book is a Big Fat Fake — a document most likely cooked up by the czar's secret police to stir up anti-Semitism. (Perhaps the Russian pogroms weren't enthusiastic enough?)

Anyway, Marc Levin decided to make his film after a cab driver in New York told him no Jews were killed on Sept. 11. Apparently, all the Jews were warned to stay home. Instead of an Amber Alert, a Schlomo Alert, you might say. The cabbie even knew how many were spared — 4,000, which, I guess, joins 6 million as a significant number in Jewish history.

Using the rumor as a kickoff point for an examination of the rise of anti-Semitism since Sept. 11 the filmmaker criss-crosses nations and decades. An Egyptian miniseries promulgates the myth that Jews use the blood of gentile boys to make matzo. Henry Ford liked to give away a free copy of the "Protocols" with every new Ford, the movie asserts. A site called Jewwatch.com disseminates hate on the Internet.

In West Virginia, Levin talks with the leader of a white supremacy group called the National Alliance. The encounter yields an almost vaudevillian exchange. Talking about Hitler's psychology, the man says, "I don't see him [Hitler] as suicidal in the slightest," to which Levin replies, well, see, "Hitler committed suicide."

It's enough to make you want to plant a tree in Israel. Maybe two.

Levin doesn't lack for material. Yet, the movie often seems unfocused, as if he hasn't been able to properly digest and frame all he's learned. Further, the necessarily repetitious nature of the material makes you sometimes feel like Woody Allen in "Annie Hall," when he visits Diane Keaton's Waspy family and every time they say "Did you," he thinks they're saying "Jew."

An ill-considered side trip into "The Passion of the Christ" territory seems both redundant and dated. And Levin's interviewing style can recall Mike Wallace on a tear. He's a little too eager to put himself front and center, often interrupting his subjects.

Still, it's beyond disturbing to hear an adorable 3-year-old describe Jews as "apes and pigs." And footage of journalist Daniel Pearl just before he was beheaded is beyond sickening.

You don't have to be Jewish to be appalled at the ugliness this film uncovers. You just have to be human.