‘Viral’ Film Review: Documentary Skims the Surface in Exploring Global Anti-Semitism
Subtitled “Anti-Semitism in Four Mutations,” this film has powerful moments but its reach exceeds its grasp
Todd Gilchrist | February 19, 2020 @ 12:27 PM
Last Updated: February 19, 2020 @ 12:42 PM
Darkstar Pictures
Anti-Semitism is probably too big a subject for any one film to explore and deconstruct adequately, but examining four recent movements or “mutations” in different countries is not the way to understand, or to help audiences understand, its awful, enduring impact on global cultures.
Director Andrew Goldberg splits the difference between academic and anecdotal portraits in “Viral: Anti-Semitism in Four Mutations,” an unfocused, ineffective documentary that inadvertently obscures both essential pieces of information about the existence and rise of anti-Jewish discrimination, and the visceral and ongoing effects on individuals and complete communities.
For those viewers for whom “Viral” is not their first film exploring antisemitism, it would resonate or inform more strongly. Nevertheless, by opening with 911 calls from the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, Goldberg strikes a powerful tone early on as survivors describe their experiences and reflect on their feelings before and afterward. These testimonials communicate the horrifying, incomprehensible and irreversible disruption to their daily lives as public spaces that once provided sanctuary and freedom no longer feel safe.
But after the filmmaker transitions into chronicling a nationwide campaign in Hungary targeting George Soros as perpetrator of the world’s ills, Goldberg’s material gets away from him — especially since any one of these four “mutations” feels worthy of its own feature-length exploration. Even those who recognize Soros’ name as an anti-Semitic dog whistle, for example, will learn nothing about the Hungarian-American philanthropist except that he is a bogeyman embodiment of evil Jewish control among conspiracy theorists.
Why? How? Other than being born in the country, what prompted Hungarian politicians to target him in their advertising and stump speeches? Of course the answer is complicated, fed by theories from conservatives in Hungary and around the globe, but the film offers no explanation as to what he did, or didn’t do, to deserve the crosshairs on his back.
Where Goldberg succeeds is highlighting how groups from different places in the ideological spectrum target and amplify anti-Semitic sentiments in different places across the globe, be it the American far right or England’s far left. But the answer to “why” mostly comes down to a commonality of scapegoating Jews as responsible for what communities and individuals traditionally in power do not have, or did not get.
Goldberg’s visit to distant relatives in the UK shows that there are people there, as there are in the U.S. and elsewhere, who see through racist leaders’ propaganda campaigns, and do what they can, where they can, to defy or disrupt those messages. But the undeniable bigger issue is a global community where specialized groups are more visible than ever, more connected by technology, and more jeopardized by individuals and agendas sowing division for their own commercial or ideological gain.
Goldberg recruits some impressive interview subjects for their insights, including Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Fareed Zakaria and George Will. But as noble as his intent is, his focus is too scattered to land on any new or especially powerful truths outside the heartbreaking resonance of watching Pittsburgh Jews reflect on the innocent victims at their synagogue, or French Jews try to figure out a way forward after not being chosen by Islamic radicals in an attack on a local grocery store.
These individuals’ pain blasts right through the attempts to capture or chronicle anti-Semitic campaigning, wherever it is, but the filmmaker never strikes the right balance to drive home emotionally how, say, their recovery or trauma eventually becomes the end result of hate campaigns by American conservatives, or how in London, people (including those with contempt for anti-Semitic propaganda) become disenfranchised themselves and disengage altogether from the political process that allows hateful, manipulative individuals to stay and flourish in power.
Goldberg has previously directed multiple documentaries about this subject, including “Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: The Resurgence,” which may account for the specificity of this film, and/or his presumption that audiences may come to this film with some basic knowledge about topics he covers. But ultimately, “Viral” feels like the sequel or second season in a series where a first (or at the very least, a recap) would have been helpful. As a topic of tremendous ongoing importance with roots that desperately need exploration, anti-Semitism deserves, and needs, a look into its global impact and perpetuation that makes a deeper dive than this documentary provides.
10 Best Documentaries of the 2010s, From 'OJ: Made in America' to 'The Invisible War' (Photos)
Facts are so often stranger than fiction: The truth can be so terrible that we struggle to believe it, or so joyous and full of life that we’re inspired or moved. The past decade has seen a boom in the documentary space as streaming platforms have invested in their production and proliferated their distribution opportunities. So many docs that could have made this list, from those that have inspired public policy changes to others that captured gorgeous slices of life often overlooked, and even a few that pushed the visual boundaries of what’s possible in non-fiction storytelling. Here are a handful of the best documentaries from the previous decade:
10. "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry" Alison Klayman’s documentary may have been many Americans’ introduction to Ai Weiwei, the outspoken artist (whose work has found a devoted following on social media) and whose voice that the Chinese government has threatened to silence more than once. Not only does Klayman’s extensive film retrace many of the highlights in the artist’s career; she also uses his story as a case study of the pressures artists in China face when standing up to the country’s authoritarian government.
9. "The Invisible War" Years ahead of the #MeToo movement, director Kirby Dick and co-writer Amy Ziering burst open the topic of sexual assault in the military with their painfully honest and eye-opening documentary. In “The Invisible War," multiple members of the armed forces detail how they were assaulted or raped by fellow soldiers or commanders and how they felt victimized a second time by the army’s failure to take action. In addition to picking up an Oscar nomination, the documentary was so effective in its mission to raise awareness of the issue that the Pentagon responded by overhauling how it investigates and oversees cases of sexual assault.
8. "O.J.: Made in America" You can argue over whether Ezra Edelman’s multi-part episodic documentary qualifies as television show or a film (the Academy gave it a Best Documentary Oscar before creating new rules that would make it ineligible), but Ezra Edelman’s comprehensive look at the rise and astronomical fall of one of pop culture's most celebrated athletes was a riveting event for many viewers. In addition to rare archival footage and numerous interviews, Edelman's film also put O.J. Simpson’s life into historical context, connecting the dots as to why the sports star would often play down his blackness to appeal to white audiences in the 1970s and examining the various responses to the “trial of the century” in the 1990s.
7. "Hale County This Morning, This Evening" Skipping conventional storytelling approaches like using a narrator or including a series of talking-heads interviews, RaMell Ross chose a nonlinear route for his feature debut. Through evocative footage and observational shots, Ross creates a portrait of the black community of Hale County, Alabama, that’s like few other documentaries. His camera is more of a free-floating spirit through the area, quietly observing the nuances between different groups and individuals at the intersection of race and class. Even with its experimental nature, “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” earned an Oscar nomination.
6. "This is Not a Film" Forbidden by the Iranian government from making a movie, directors Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb record Panahi on an iPhone as he’s stuck at home under house arrest. At its core, the documentary is a protest film, a tool for discussing the limitations of persecuting artists in the country while defying the government’s orders by making a documentary. Politics aside, “This is Not a Film” also has a very day-in-the-life quality as it follows Panahi through stories about his previous works while as he prepares to stage future projects within the confines of his home.
5. "Dawson City: Frozen Time" In 1976, the small northern town of Dawson City unearthed an unlikely treasure trove of rare silent films in various states of decay. Decades later, Bill Morrison artfully composed fragments of these movies with other archival material and photos to tell the story of this town in a remote part of Alaska and the number of famous (or infamous) souls passed through it over its history. The found silent-movie footage from nitrate prints that survived the area’s harsh winters underground vary in their state of decomposition, but Morrison incorporates these so-called damaged works into the narrative.
4. "I Am Not Your Negro" Raoul Peck connects an unfinished James Baldwin novel about the murders of three of his friends who were leaders of the civil rights movement -- Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. -- to the present-day protests of Black Lives Matter in a visceral documentary narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. Incorporating interview footage and letters, Peck conjures up Baldwin’s insightful voice to echo the works of years ago, a haunting reminder of how far equality has yet to go in the struggle against racial discrimination.
3. "The Grand Bizarre" At no point is there a singular character to follow or voice-over narration to guide us. Instead, Jodie Mack’s dazzling stop-motion animated documentary just washes over its audiences with a fury of colors, patterns and textures of materials from around the world. This inventive documentary explores heady themes of globalization, mass production, cultural identity, travel, commerce and connectivity through the journey of several fabric swatches as they traipse around the world in immaculately arranged configurations, accompanied by Mack’s playfully evocative score. Borders and barriers fall away as the materials come to life.
2. "Cameraperson" Kirsten Johnson steps out from behind the camera to become the subject of her own moving documentary about her work and life outside the frame. Her memoir-doc includes home movies of her family alongside a number of movies she shot throughout her career, including “Derrida,” “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “Happy Valley,” “Citizenfour” and “Very Semi-Serious.” It’s a delicate balance between the Johnson audiences have come to know through her work and the person whose life exists outside the camera that’s taken her to all these corners of the world.
1. "The Act of Killing" Shocking. Stomach-churning. Joshua Oppenheimer and an anonymous co-director uncover the humanity and the monstrosity behind some of the men who led death squads during Indonesia’s war against Communists. Using the guise of creating an extravagant movie about the men’s life stories, “The Act of Killing” gets its subjects to reveal dark secrets and dredge memories so awful, it makes them physically ill. They may never face the consequences for their actions, but this wildly fascinating and disturbing documentary captures perhaps one of the strangest confessions ever on film.
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Decade in Review: “The Grand Bizarre” and “Cameraperson” rank among the highlights of the decade
Facts are so often stranger than fiction: The truth can be so terrible that we struggle to believe it, or so joyous and full of life that we’re inspired or moved. The past decade has seen a boom in the documentary space as streaming platforms have invested in their production and proliferated their distribution opportunities. So many docs that could have made this list, from those that have inspired public policy changes to others that captured gorgeous slices of life often overlooked, and even a few that pushed the visual boundaries of what’s possible in non-fiction storytelling. Here are a handful of the best documentaries from the previous decade:
