Zizek!

Director: Astra Taylor

June 20, 2008
Little Theatre, National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai

The author of works on subjects as wide-ranging as Alfred Hitchcock, 9/11, opera, Christianity Lenin and David Lynch, Slovenian cultural theorist Slavoi Zizek is one of the most important and outrageous philosophers working today. This captivating, erudite documentary explores the eccentric personality and esoteric work of this incomparable academic and writer who has been called everything from “the Elvis of cultural theory” to “a one person culture mulcher”.

The documentary is a compelling portrait of an intellectual maverick, as he criss-crosses the globe, racing from New York City lecture halls, through the streets of Buenos Aires, and even stopping at home in Ljubljana, Slovenia. All the while Zizek obsessively reveals the invisible workings of ideology through his unique blend of Lacanian psychoanalysis, Marxism, and critique of pop culture. Never ceasing to observe the paradoxes that underpin our perception of reality; little goes un-theorized over the course of the film, particularly Zizek’s recurring themes- ideology, belief, revolution, and love. But Zizek is also unafraid to turn his critical gaze on himself, astutely analyzing his private life for the camera and contemplating on his conflicted relationship to his growing celebrity.