WillSushyMedia
This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.
TaryBiggBall
It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
Neive Bellamy
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
jessica greenbaum
I have been thinking about this movie all day because Colliding Dreams is nothing less than a life changer. It affected me in an analogous way to seeing Shoah.Like Shoah, Colliding Dreams took a 360 degree walk around an integral part of my identity that had always been confusingly and troublingly blurred—and crystallized it. I grew up with an unasked for connection to Israel, but it was like a relative I never saw, didn't know, couldn't tell how to feel about. If I had any sense of Israel, it was through a very partial and distorted lens of my own teen experience getting kicked off kibbutz, paired with my inability to grasp the politics or currents of feelings. Jews going to Israel only told me I couldn't get it, that I merely had a reductive American take on things. The people who spoke to the audience through the interviews were each awesome. I keep thinking of them! The one who looked like Ray Bolger with his comments about making a good state, and the guy who said "We are trapped!" The young bald guy. The Peace Now woman --what a spirit--with her anecdote about the stickers and the video of her when she was young, and other guys with messy hair. Orly, who moved away, as I have always thought I would if born there. The wonderfully articulate woman with the necklace. I really want to see it again so I can call them by name. What essential, valuable intellects for us to know--what great intelligences are brought to us through them. I knew that whenever someone came on camera I was going to want to hear what they had to say. The directors found the most profound voices and offered them to us in an astoundingly organized way, year by year, decade by decade. They literally spliced a century of time! And I loved the framing of the movie with the siren and the moment of silence, that freeze into motion. Absolutely perfect! Thank you to the directors for this dedicated, most complicated, grace-filled film. It really made a difference in my life. I have more of a sense of Israel than I have had in my 58 years--and much more a sense of authentic connection because of that.
Extralex
I am never surprised when intelligent films like Colliding Dreams—which approach polarizing subjects with grace and balance—are slammed in reviews. It seems that some people think that if a movie presents points of view that are different from theirs, or makes you a little uncomfortable by challenging your own prejudices, that makes it a bad film. In fact, the opposite is true. Colliding Dreams will, if you let it, see historical Zionism and today's Israel from many perspectives—supporters, detractors, those who have lived it and those who fought it, those who study it and those who shaped it. It is precisely this diversity of opinion—presented in an incredibly coherent and affecting narrative—that makes it a great film.
wrkcwnwnx
I won't repeat the excellent and thorough review above, except to state that this film is seriously defective and racist. According to the film maker, who I met this evening, he is trying to discuss the conflict from an Israeli view. However, he gives ample time to Arabs and does not balance their errors with corrective interviews, The general tone goes like this,"if the mature Jews would be nice to the Arab children, the children will be behave and we can all get along". It's all about what the Jews have done wrong. He states that there were no problems between Arabs and Jews until the Zionist arrived. Wrong. He states that the PLO/PA has recognized Israel. Wrong. He states that Israel needs to leave the west bank but does not state that the PA has rejected peace deals from three Israeli Prime Ministers. I could go on, but let me summarize like this, if you want to see a biased film which bashes Jews and never asks Arabs to take responsibility for their actions, then this is the film for you. If you want a film that examines the complexity of the Israeli-Arab conflict, or a film which looks at the complexity of internal Israeli conflicts and movements, look elsewhere.
juliegreenfield
This film is an exhaustive three-hour exploration of the forces and ideas which compelled the creation of the state of Israel--the heroism, complexity, desperation, conflicts between Arabs and Jews, and ultimately the dilemmas and tragedy of the current situation.Similar to Ari Shavitz' great book, "My Promised Land", this film takes the approach of interviewing people on all sides of this issue, and seeing the issue from different viewpoints. Even though it is a long film, there is no way that it could include every piece of this complex history. However, I think it does an amazing job of giving voice to all parties, and leaving one with an overall sense of what is going on in Israel and the occupied territories. There is great documentary footage which I had never seen before, and interviews with people like Amos Oz on the one hand; West Bank settlers, Palestinians displaced, etc. This film is a powerful and informed contribution to the discussion of what is going on in the Middle East. It should be seen widely and discussed by everyone interested in getting a glimpse of the reality of what has made Israel what it is today.
