by Travis Mackenzie Hoover
THE SETTLERS (2001)
**½/****
directed by Ruth Walk
The strange case of a tiny Jewish settlement in Palestinian Hebron is given a superficial gloss in this video, which simply slaps its head and says, "Can you believe these people?" Admittedly, there is some fleeting interest in the stubbornness of the female interviewees, who remark about how beautiful the landscape is "despite all the Arabs," and a demonstration in a public square–featuring an eyebrow-raising pro-Israeli pop song–is perversely fascinating for the awesome density of its participants. But The Settlers is mostly a series of ironic gotchas in which the oblivious subjects deconstruct themselves before our eyes, and while that's good for starters it leaves one hungering for context. Left unknown is what the surrounding Arabs thought of the settlements (okay, I have an idea) and how they interact with the settlers. One could also use some discussion of what the settlers think about the historical circumstances that landed them there, which might have made for even more alarming responses. As it stands, we have a freakshow without a thesis that barely pads out its brief (58-minute) running time.
