The life of playwright, journalist, and early Zionist Theodor Herzl is examined in new documentary
IT IS NO DREAM: THE LIFE OF THEODOR HERZL (Richard Trank, 2012)
Quad Cinema
34 West 13th St.
Opens Friday, August 10
212-255-2243
www.quadcinema.com
www.itisnodream.com
One of the most important figures in the creation of the State of Israel, Budapest-born writer and activist Theodor Herzl was surprisingly not a strong believer in the Jewish religion and tradition, as revealed in the staid, plodding documentary It Is No Dream: The Life of Theodor Herzl. Produced by the filmmaking wing of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the international human rights organization that promotes tolerance while focusing on the Holocaust, the well-meaning but overly reverential film clumsily begins with a look at the neo-Nazi movement before examining Herzl’s transformation from a journalist and wanna-be playwright into a zealot combating anti-Semitism as a result of his covering the trial of accused French traitor Alfred Dreyfus. Public cries of “Kill the Jews” led Herzl to write Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), a controversial plan for the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Director Richard Trank (Winston Churchill: Walking with Destiny) and cowriter Rabbi Marvin Hier, who previously teamed up on the Oscar-winning documentary The Long Way Home, gloss over Herzl’s personal life, which appears to have had many interesting facets, and instead relies on choppy narration by Sir Ben Kingsley and excerpts from Herzl’s diary dryly read by Christoph Waltz. Trank also includes only one talking-head expert, historian Dr. Robert S. Wistrich (although Israeli president Shimon Peres makes a brief appearance), making it feel incomplete, as if there is much more to tell. Although it does feature many intriguing details, It Is No Dream: The Life of Theodor Herzl never quite captures the fervor of the Zionist campaign, coming off more like the kind of documentary shown as part of a museum retrospective, where the surrounding materials are needed to help bring life to the story. The film opens Friday night at the Quad, with Trank on hand for Q&As and introductions at several weekend screenings.