Zeitgeist (2007) - ★★★★★

Director: Peter Joseph
Writer: Peter Joseph

After watching Bill Maher's essentially anti-religion documentary 'Religulous' I told my friends that it was entertaining, funny and that it brings up valid points. One of them then asked if I'd seen Zeitgeist and told me that it was the most interesting documentary that I will ever see. He wasn't wrong.

Zeitgeist is controversial, intelligent and has a raw, amateurish feel about it. The documentary is split into three parts: i) Refuting religion. ii) The 9/11 conspiracy, essentially saying that the American Government was behind it all. iii) The rise of the power of banks and their stranglehold on the world.

The first part of the film aims to discredit religion, particularly taking aim at Christianity. It does this through showing all the 'hand-me-down' stories that were taken from ancient religions which are now part of the Christian belief. One way they did this is by comparing the Ancient Egyptian god of Horus to Jesus (there are unbelievable likenesses). There were many eye-opening and valid points that were made in this section of the video, which was the highlight of the documentary for me.

The second part aims to make the audience question the open and shut case that was 9/11. When I say 'open and shut,' I mean that a thorough investigation was not conducted and many loose ends were not tied. Once again this documentary gave a glimpse into many of the facts that the public weren't shown about the collapsing of the towers, in particular tower '7', which was not hit by a plane yet also collapsed. This film continued to intrigue me and ask questions.

Perhaps the most shocking and disturbing information in Zeitgeist for me was the way that the banks of America and around the world were presented. This film suggested that they were responsible for the US fighting in many wars, including WW1, WW2, Vietnam and Iraq/Afghanistan. It was very informative in regards to the history of the banks, and the suffering they caused the people during the depression back in early 20th century.

This is a well thought-out, plausible and unwaveringly interesting documentary. It has a long running time of nearly two hours, yet I was hooked from start to finish. I learnt many things that I would have otherwise been ignorant about, and I was compelled to start asking questions myself about religion, 9/11 and the control the banks have over the world. Although all the facts may not be correct, the arguments that are put forth are displayed clearly and effectively by the narrator. Everyone should see this film.