Martin Buber: Itinerary of a Humanist 2015/2017
Distributed by Film Ideas, 308 North Wolf Rd., Wheeling, IL 60090; 800-475-3456
Produced by Jean Labib
Directed by Pierre-Henry Salfati
DVD , color, 52 min.
High School - General Adult
European History, Jewish Religion, Philosophy
Date Entered: 09/20/2017
Reviewed by Alexander Rolfe, Technical Services Librarian, George Fox University, Newberg, ORThis documentary provides a good overview of philosopher Martin Buber’s life and significance. It doesn’t go deeply into his works, but mentions the major ones, quotes a few passages, and explains the centrality of “encounter” to Buber’s thought. The focus remains on Buber’s own encounters, starting with his mother’s abandonment of him at age four: an encounter of absence that had a profound impact on him. We learn of his correspondence with other leading intellectuals of the 20th century, such as Einstein and Kafka. We also see his pacifism, Zionism, desire for a Palestinian state, interest in libertarian anarchism, devotion to Nietzsche, and love of Jewish mysticism. And if this documentary has a weakness, that’s where it lies. Perhaps because of its uncritical stance, it doesn't do much to help the viewer understand how these were all reconciled within a single mind.
The technical quality is good and the narrator moves things along fairly briskly, making this more informative than many documentaries of similar length.