A Pervert’s Guide to Cinema

Director: Sophie Fiennes

October 11, 2007
Little Theatre, National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai

A Pervert’s Guide To Cinema is a film about cinema itself with close readings of some of the most intriguing and celebrated films in cinema history. Serving as guide is the charismatic Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst, Slavoj Zizek, who delves into the hidden language of cinema uncovering what movies can tell us about ourselves, from the psychoanalytic theoretical perspective.

The film cuts its cloth from the very world of the movies it discusses; by shooting at original locations and on replica sets. Structured in three parts, the film offers an introduction to Zizek’s ideas on fantasy, reality, sexuality, subjectivity desire, materiality, and cinematic form. In a striking visual leap, director Sophie Fiennes immerses Zizek into the scenes he discusses. Whether he is unravelling the films of David lynch, or overturning everything you thought you knew about Hitchcock, Zizek illuminates the screen with passion, intellect, and unfailing sense of humour.