Sunday, October 26, 2008

ZIZEK

This is more like it. A most welcome antidote to Enemies Of Reason in the form of The Pervert's Guide To The Cinema by maverick psychoanalyst Slavoj Zizek, a short documentary in the ArtShock series. (The rest I didn't care for much - Brit artists Jake Chapman and Tracey Emin both, in turn, being found wanting.)

Zizek exquisitely collates scenes from iconic movies (most prominent are those of Hitchcock), whilst putting forward his charmingly provocative ideas with an enthusiastic deliberateness. Much of his commentary is laced with Freudian concepts and models, which personally I can do without; yet that notwithstanding, it's where he takes you with it that makes it so special.

3 comments:

Ea-M. said...

I was wondering about that one since i read about it in the CPH DOX programme... If i can fit the teature into my timetable, i'll give it a go.

William Bennett said...

go for it! it's only 45 minutes long so you owe it to yourself

Anonymous said...

Yes, he ROCKS! The full version of 'Perverts Guide To Cinema' runs over two hours. Essential for grandmothers everywhere (Zizek says his role is to make Lacan-not Freud-accessible to even our grandmothers) and those engaged in the futile attempt to warm up the shrivelled testicles of the traditional canon (Derrida, Deluze etc.) of cultural theory.

A good primer for Zizek is the a feature length documentary on the man which of course has found it's way onto You Tube :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4VpxI8tkpU