Spiral Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Spiral Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 20, 2019

Spiral is apt to leave audiences feeling either at least a little hopeful or downright despondent, depending upon how they react to director Laura Fairrie’s aggregation of various people dealing with the shocking rise of anti-Semitism in Europe in various ways. On the “plus” side, it’s encouraging, if in a somewhat subliminal way, that Fairrie herself was able to get participation from such a wide array of subjects, including such disparate folks as a lawyer working on behalf of victims and (as is revealed later) one of the people that lawyer is suing, an apparently famous French comedian named Dieudonné. On the “minus” side, the film is filled with a number of dispiriting vignettes which seem to indicate that Mankind has learned little to nothing from untold millennia of prejudice and outright persecution, not to mention whatever “lessons” the Holocaust should have taught. Spiral is often fascinating, and some of the interviews are both challenging and insightful, but the film doesn’t seem to have a real point other than to document a trend that most folks will probably already be aware of, at least in passing.

One of the commendable things about Spiral is that it at least attempts to provide personal glimpses into individual's lives on both sides of the seemingly unavoidable "us vs. them" mentality that pervades many Middle Eastern relationships, even if those relationships are actually playing out in European locales. Fairrie offers interviews and candid footage featuring Dieudonné and, later, the mayor of a Palestinian town where Jewish settlers have started to build on a nearby mountaintop, a Palestinian “community organizer”, and a gaggle of what I assume are Arab boys in a field. These all present sometimes very brief (and in Dieudonné’s case disturbing and quite possibly offensive) looks at how contentious things can get. On the other side of the equation, she offers the Jewish lawyer, a Jewish man from England who has moved to Israel with his family, a Parisian Jewish family about to move to Israel, and a teacher at what seems to be a Hebrew school. Still, my hunch is some viewers may come away with the perception that the film is tilted in one direction or another, perhaps depending on that viewer's own perception of things. One way or the other, there is some undeniably unsettling content here, both shown overtly on screen as well as some anecdotal references offered by some of the interview subjects.

The film tends to offer longer snippets of the lives of people like a Manchester Jew who moved his family to one of the disputed West Bank settlements, or a French family in the throes of leaving their lifelong Paris home for the uncharted waters (deserts?) of Israel due to an uptick in anti-Semitism. There are overt references to several French attacks which some folks (including this reviewer) may not know much about, but some of the most disturbing content is simply matter of fact comments from a number of people who have witnessed or experienced such behaviors themselves.

As such, Spiral may be best appreciated as the "start" of a conversation about these issues, rather than a definitive documentary about what to actually do about them.

Spiral Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Spiral is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. While this is a perfectly competent looking transfer for the most part, with good detail levels both in terms of outdoor material (especially in Israel) and indoor interviews, there are some curious moments of boosted brightness combined with anemic contrast that give things a slightly washed out, hazy look.

Spiral Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Spiral features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that provides some perhaps surprising surround activity courtesy of what sounds like high frequency insect noises (cicadas, maybe?) during shots at the Jewish settlement on the West Bank. There's an arguably overbearing score which was mixed too high in my personal estimation, to the point that it actually drowned out some snippets of talking heads, but the music also wafts through the side and rear channels. Much of the film offers interviews or "confessionals" delivered directly to the camera, with many of these taking place inside, and as such surround activity is understandably limited.

Note: This is actually a multi-lingual presentation, with subtitles offered for the non-English speakers.

Spiral Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Conversations from the Quad with the Director of Spiral, Laura Fairrie (1080p; 15:50) is an enjoyable interview moderated by Isaac Zablocky from Manhattan's JCC.


• Trailer (1080p; 2:04) is the first such marketing effort I've personally seen that employs a "trigger" warning before it begins that some may find the content objectionable.

Spiral Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Spiral should at least spark discussion, and that's a good thing. I personally wish the film had provided at least a little more contextualizing, not just in terms of the actual history involved, but perhaps just as importantly some of the source video utilized (what, for example, is the story with the young teenage girl who is spouting anti-Semitic propaganda in what appears to be something like a YouTube video?). Anyone interested in this subject will probably find this fascinating if not always comforting to watch. Technical merits are generally solid, and with caveats noted (including the documentary trailer's own warning that some may find content objectionable), Spiral comes Recommended.