Spiral (2017) DOC NYC 2017

A look at the rise of anti-semitism in Europe and France in particular. We follow an attorney who battle anti semitism, a family in Israel, another in France preparing to leave, a comedian who got into trouble making jokes, and a few others. Stitched together with anti-Jewish comments and videos the film hopes to give one a sense of what is going on across Europe.

Heartfelt and honest in it's intentions SPIRAL never truly catches fire. While the subject is vital and important, the presentation is too low key as to spark action or interest.  I know there is a problem and I know that the world must be aware but at the same time we need more than people talking quietly in rooms or gorgeous landscapes to get the point across.

To be honest I'm not entirely sure what director Laura Fairrie is going for with some of sequences where little happens.Scenes of people sitting around talking, walking in court house halls or standing in the landscape, while beautiful and allow a  moment of reflection don't really add much. If they are to be bridges between moments there are too many of them.  Somewhere about  the half way point I found my interest waning.

An important subject given an okay presentation.