Though focusing exclusively on the contemporary Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj Zizek, as an eccentric individual prone to brilliant ranting, Zizek! presents an interesting paradox: that of the documentary filmmaker’s relationship to the subject. Directed by Astra Taylor, 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".

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Product Description

The author of works on subjects as wide-ranging as Alfred Hitchcock, 9/11, opera, Christianity, Lenin and David Lynch, Slovenian cultural theorist Slavoj Zizek is one of the most important—and outrageous—philosophers working today. Directed by Astra Taylor, 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".

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33946 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-07-25
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 71 minutes

Amazon.com
Though focusing exclusively on the contemporary Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj Zizek, as an eccentric individual prone to brilliant ranting, Zizek! presents an interesting paradox: that of the documentary filmmaker's relationship to the subject. Twenty-seven year old director Astra Taylor, with her film debut, has managed to inject ample footage of Zizek ruminating on his couch, talking in the cab, in the park, and in lecture halls with her obvious crush on the man known for bringing Lacanian psychoanalytical theory to the masses. In the tradition of unlikely love stories, i.e. Harold & Maude, Astra follows Zizek around with a camera for a day-in-the-life portrait. During personal moments, Zizek generously displays his underwear drawer, for example, as he gives a lengthy explanation of how socialist/communist houses should remain tidy and sparse. During more lofty conceptual moments, or in academic settings, Zizek explains his thoughts on Lacan, Freud, Marx, and Stalin. Like the "direct cinema" of the Maysles Brothers and Errol Morris, Zizek! relies upon the inherent character of its subject for entertainment value, though the film will definitely help newcomers grasp Zizek's complex philosophical tenets. In this, Zizek! is not only an experimental love letter, but also a film that will give one's brain a serious workout. --Trinie Dalton

The New York Times
"The world's most unlikely movie star."

About the Actor
Slavoj Zizek, subject and star of ZIZEK!, been called "the Elvis of cultural theory," among other things. He has published over 50 books on topics ranging from Lacan to Iraq to Hitchcock. In 1990, he was a presidential candidate for Slovenia's first multiparty elections.

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Customer Reviews

Zizek, or, Nostalgia for a Time Before the Postmodern
Those who like theory but don't take the whole theory game all that seriously will be in the best position to enjoy this.
Those rigorously trained theoriticans who take their theory very seriously will probably be less inclined to just kick back and enjoy this, and more inclined to find faultlines within Zizek's thinking.

Zizek acknowledges that many expect more from him than he has to give. He admits that leftists in the market for political formulas/solutions are invariably disappointed with his lectures, but, in his own defense, he states that it is not a philosophers job to find solutions but to examine the kinds of questions that we ask: ie what is truth?

I think one of the appeals of Zizek is that he is an old school marxist at a time when marxism is no longer fashionable nor viable. And theres something romantic and/or nostalgic about this and it gives him an underdog appeal. At a time when many thinkers have abandon trying to imagine an alternative to liberal capitalism, Zizek is a kind of old style revivalist. His common folk appeal is hard to resist. If you are the kind of person that likes a bit of theory now and then but is turned off by a lot of its elitist tendencies, well, Zizek is a breath of fresh eccentrically charged air.

What Zizek really excels at doing is critiquing the way late phase captialism shapes the public imagination. If capitalism trades in commodity fetsishism and fantasies of unfettered market freedoms and unlimited horizons for liberal subjects, then Zizek sees it as his job to show that this fantasy is just that, a fantasy, and that late capitalist ideology is still ideology.

Zizek has an obvious distaste for the postmodern and an obvious nostalgia for the world that existed before postmodernism. The reason is that everything that Zizek values (possibility) is erased by postmodernism (which to Zizek means the total victory of capitalist ideology). Even though Zizek is not a Stalinist, he is nostalgic for a time when there was something that stood up against captalism.

And so, though very few believe that capitalism is going anywhere, Zizek appeals because while examining the paradoxes that exist within captialist ideology he offers us glimpses of a world that exists outside of it. For some Zizek's deconstructions are a very satisfying form of entertainment, for others Zizek's performances are proof that opposition and dissent are still alive and well and that not everything has been subsumed by the dominant ideology.

In sum, Zizek is the ultimate humanist because he believes that no one individual or society is ever totally subsumed by ideology. There is always an excess that is not contained, and therein lies the optimism (the utopian urge) inherent in all Zizekian discourses (or counterdiscourses).

"Zizek The Movie!" starring Peter Sellers, coming soon to a theater near you!
Mr. Zizek(!) is a bit of a freakshow and he knows it. He seems to have everything to say and nothing to say all at the same time. As you listen to him speak he seems to be saying something profound but actually there's not much of any practical value to hold on to. But perhaps this is the whole point. If you're looking for answers to ease your existential angst or left-wing manifestos that point the way to a better future, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Fortunately, Mr. Zizek(!) does have a good sense of humor which helps makes this exercise in mental gymnastics more enjoyable. I like the part where he entertains the notion that people who want to commit suicide should have to apply to a specially appointed committee for approval to do so. Also, his interpretation of the film classic 'Casablanca' is quite humorous and worthwhile. But I can't help wondering whether it's more than just a coincidence that one of his favorite movies is 'Being There', a very funny movie in which everybody mistakes the main character (played by Peter Sellers) for a genious. (Actually if they ever made 'Zizek The Movie' or 'The Zizek Story', I think Peter Sellers would be a superb candidate to play the lead.)

In addition to his sense of humor, apparently ol' Ziz has a thoroughly non-metaphysical aspect to his character as well. According to Wikipedia he was or is married to an Argentine model. I imagine there's nothing quite like having an Argentine model in your bed to melt away that frigid landscape of being and nothingness. Rock on, Z!

incoherent slurs, but inciteful enough to be funny...
Don't watch this to learn things that you can apply to the real world. Instead watch this as a kind of mix between sci-fi intellectualism and a way to gain a bunch of quirky useless incites. I think most Marxists can't seem to get wtf Zizek is doing (I get it, he is selling books and movies...). Thats because he really isn't doing anything. He doesn't have a research program or a political project. What he does is just make quirky incites and everyone scratches their heads and says..."ooohhhhh". THis is more or less how this movie is. Some wafy white girls follows him around with a camera capturing his quirky intellectual moments - i.e. keeping his socks in a droor in the kitchen, being repulsed by people who approach him in public, psychoanalyzing his child - and acting like he is gods gift to thought. Its a bit masturbatory on his part, but its fun to watch.