Zizek!

MOVIE #1,841 • 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 • 07.23.24 D̷I̷R̷E̷C̷T̷O̷R̷ ̷F̷I̷L̷L̷-̷I̷N̷ ̷S̷E̷R̷I̷E̷S̷:̷ ASTRA TAYLOR This director focus fill-in is for a documentarian who made a kinda bland political-based 2018 film called What is Democracy? that I reviewed a couple years ago. But her first film is far more promising: the singular character study of Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek , billed on the poster as “the Elvis of cultural theory.” I read recently that 1942’s To Be or Not to Be is one of his favorite movies, so he's at least got good taste in that department. I was vaguely familiar with Zizek as an Internet meme type personality and had seen clips of him intermittently over the years. He's one of one, that's for sure, with his instantly recognizable voice/accent and larger than life presence.

Taylor's film is just over an hour and that's really the perfect length for this kind of thing. It's a simple, stripped-down affair following Zizek on the international lecture circuit. It opens with him delivering what's probably his best known quote: “it's easier to imagine the end of the world then it is the end of capitalism,” which is a beautiful and profound statement that sums up his entire world view quite neatly. But of course, it’s never that neat. I will admit that I don't have a grasp on all the ideas presented here but — and this is why the doc and Zizek are so special — I find myself intrigued to the point of really wanting to know more. Whether or I will venture down this rabbit hole is another question all together, but as a primer for the curious, this is an excellent document.

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Zizek! or Žižek!, is a 2005 documentary film directed by Astra Taylor. An international co-production of the United States and Canada, its subject is philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek, a prolific author and former candidate for the Presidency of Slovenia. It was released on November 17, 2005.