Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A hilarious introduction, using as examples some of the best films ever made, to some of Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek's most exciting ideas on personal subjectivity, fantasy and reality, desire and sexuality.
Žižek's documentary is genuinely singular — a philosopher inserted directly into the sets of classic films to perform psychoanalytic readings is a one-of-a-kind conceit executed with infectious energy. The ideas are stimulating and the film-within-film visual device is inventive. However, the structure is essayistic rather than narrative, meaning 'plot' is loose and cumulative rather than carefully built, and the ending simply winds down without a strong concluding gesture. Acting is really Žižek's charismatic one-man performance, which is entertaining but uneven. Cinematography is functional and clever in recreating iconic spaces but not visually ambitious beyond the gimmick. Its novelty is its greatest strength — nothing else quite looks or sounds like this film.