American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein (2009)

American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein is a documentary film about the controversial American scholar Norman Finkelstein (born 1953) who received his Ph.D. in political science at Princeton University. Here is some basic information about this film which premiered in 2009:

** Directed by David Ridgen & Nicolas Rossier

** Released on DVD in 2010

** Available on Amazon Video since 2012

** Run time: 89 minutes

As stated above, Finkelstein is a controversial scholar – because of his views on the Holocaust, the Vietnam War, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In this film we follow him during several months as he travels in the US and to other countries where he is invited to give a talk, to present his views, and to take part in political and historical debates. Some people in the audiences love him, while others hate him.

In this film we meet some of his supporters, who agree with him, as well as some of his opponents, who condemn him. Here is an alphabetical list of the people who are interviewed:

** Musa Abu-Hashhash

** Nidal Barham

** Noam Chomsky

** Alan Dershowitz

** Richard Finkelstein (Norman’s brother)

** Raul Hilberg

** David Olesker

** John Mearsheimer

** Len Rudner

** Avi Shlaim

** Maxine Tsvaigrach

What do reviewers say about this film? Here are the results of three review aggregators:

** 71 per cent = Metacritic

** 80 per cent = IMDb

** 86 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes – the audience score

** 100 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes – the critics

As you can see, the ratings are quite high, quite good. I understand the positive reviews and I agree with most of them. As far as I can see, this film is an ABC-product: accurate, balanced and comprehensive. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

PS. Norman Finkelstein is the author of several books and articles about politics and history. Here are two examples:

** The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (hardcover 2000, paperback 2015)

** Method and Madness: The Hidden Story of Israel’s Assault on Gaza (paperback 2015)

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