Movie Review: Patterns of Evidence: Journey to Mount Sinai II

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

A really interesting documentary on the search for the location of Mount Sinai (where Moses came down with the Ten Commandments).

What makes this movie really stand out from other documentaries is the fact that it keeps us intellectually engaged throughout the film. Since it is unknown which of these places (if any of them) was the biblical indication of Mt. Sinai, this movie does not offer an exact answer to this question. Not only this but the filmmaker doesn't share his opinions on them until the end of the film. We instead spend much of the time listening to knowledgeable people talk about why they do or don't believe one location is the actual location. Therefore, we hear the arguments for and against each location and make up our minds for ourselves. This creates a real engagement and interest in the film that lasts throughout the whole movie as we are listening carefully trying to figure it out for ourselves. This also makes us feel like we are part of the movie. Listening to the various knowledgeable people talk is very interesting. They go into great detail but never in a way that either feels inaccessible or talks down to the average person. The location filming is also fantastic and it is wonderful to see all these possibly historical sites we may never get to see otherwise. 

One big problem I have with this film happens to do with its framing and one way it tries to encourage audience involvement. This is that early in the movie a QR code appears on the screen and the audience is encouraged to scan it with their phones and use their to record keep track of their opinions on various aspects of the places visited in the movie. There is something about this idea that feel very uncinematic and seems to go against so much of what I love about the movie going experience. After various topics were discussed, the audience was given time to record their thoughts about these aspects while the director reviewed what was said about each of these topics. This simply made the movie slow down to a halt and cause the film to really drag in these parts. Needless to say, I was not a fan of this idea and I hope it is not employed in too many future films. 

Despite a very major fault, this movie was incredibly fascinating and a very thought-provoking documentary.