Derrida

Starring:Jacques Derrida, Marguerite Derrida, RenÃ© Major, Chantal Major, Avital Ronell, RenÃ© Derrida, Eddie Yeghiayan
Director: Amy Ziering Kofman, Kirby Dick
Studio: Zeitgeist Films
Product Type: DVD

Description

One of the most influential and iconoclastic figures of the 20th century, French philosopher and father of "deconstruction" Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) has single-handedly altered the way we look at history, language, art and film. In the spirit of Derrida's work, acclaimed filmmakers Kirby Dick (SICK: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BOB FLANAGAN, SUPERMASOCHIST) and Amy Ziering Kofman have created an innovative and entertaining portrait by questioning the very concept of biography itself. Featuring a mesmerizing score by Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (THE LAST EMPEROR), DERRIDA is a playful and provocative glimpse at a visionary thinker as he ruminates on everything from SEINFELD to the sex lives of ancient philosophers. This Edition features additional rare interview footage with Derrida.

Customer Reviews:

Review of Derrida movie:.......2007-02-07

If you've followed Derrida's work then you may really enjoy this. I found the narrater, narration really annoying. If you can leave that aside then it is quite interesting seeing the late Philosopher.
It's more a look at Derrida's life than how to do deconstruction.
If your an anti-deconstructionist then you may be wasting your time.

a playground for deconstruction.......2006-11-19

I cant believe this movie brought up the problems with autobiography, then proceeded to construct the most hip, glamourizing image of derrida. "He lived, he thought, he died." All along with press following him, images of cameras following him around, and hip, computor-altered narrative voices listing all the "cool" parts of his childhood. Sometimes when he actually employs deconstrucionism to the actual interview process and starts to show with the value of getting out of cultural-assumptions, a narrator pops in with some over-simplification. Overall this is a pretty cool movie and makes derrida look really cool, but mostly by attaching a lot of culturally "cool" baggage to derrida and not really getting at the kind of honesty that deconstructionism is all about. It seems like the incredible focus on imagery was more important than expressing things honestly. There must have been a lot of money involved.

Where is Peter Medawar now that we need him the most?.......2006-09-08

Around a half century ago the Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin was often uttering pure gibberish. Peter Medawar perspicaciously pointed out that "A good deal of Teilhard is nonsense, but on further reflection I can see it as a dotty, euphoristic kind on nonsense..." Teilhard's adoring fans, Medawar added, naively embraced "the comical fallacious syllogism that runs `Profound reasoning is difficult to understand; this work is difficult to understand; therefore this work is profound.'" Alas, our present era we have the works of Jacques Derrida, Paul De Man, and others within the deconstructionist movement to entertain us. Derrida says bewildering stuff like "So there is a real future beyond this other known future." Huh? Needless to add, it is not the only time when Derrida will make you laugh. This is an inadvertently humorous film. So much so, it well deserves five stars. Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering Kofman are also to be congratulated for alerting the general public to the shenanigans occurring in many liberal arts departments of our major universities. They are, to be blunt, stark raving lunatic asylums. Shockingly, many of the less than admirable academics who worshipped the ground Derrida walked on---earn six figure incomes! Something is definitely wrong.

Was the late Jacques Derrida as profound as Britney Spears? Could he truly begin to intellectually compete with her? Wow, that's a rough call. It may be best to flip a coin to resolve this existential mystery of the universe. I am personally betting on Ms. Spears. Derrida was essentially a nihilist unable to think and follow a logical argument. The previously mentioned Mr. Dick is also responsible for putting together "Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist." Oh my goodness, what will be his next project? I'm almost afraid to find out.

David Thomson
Flares into Darkness

If you need to, rent it...but do not waste the money to buy it.......2006-08-26

27 bucks? Even used at 17 is questionable. Americans love to elevate certain regular "Others" to superstardom - this is true. I almost died for Derrida watching this film...what was with all the incessant following him around? How many times do we need to see him walk down the street as if being followed by paparazzi? Yes, we got the point but the filmmakers never moved on...probably because, like so many of the other reviewers have said here, they lacked the depth and knowledge to do so.

...the questions were indeed amateurish and a waste of time...the parallel to Seinfeld was especially embarrassing and I was pleased to see Derrida deflect it by saying that if one was really interested in the matter at hand they wouldn't watch such sit-coms.

...and I do agree that the narrator's blandness was most unpleasant and contrived.

...and no this film absolutely did not stimulate my curiosity on deconstructive thinking...it only made me want to deconstruct the flaky, shallow American filmmakers who made it.

Insightful Derrida, annoying direction.......2006-08-26

August 25, 2006
Even though the hollywood-driven glorification of Derrida as a superhero of philosophy was annoying -- if not furiating at times, the video did, however, suceed in unveiling fundamental character traits of the philosopher. Namely, the documentary revealed that Derrida reserved himself from idiotic probing into his personal sex life which, needless to say if granted, the editors/director would exploit by marketing to stupified masses (The same masses who only buy-into the dramatized or "controversial"). For that reason alone - that Derrida himself recognized this and, to counter it, distanced himself from exploitative questions - it was worth watching.

Since I have not read any of Derrida's work YET, I simply can not say anything about his philosophy. However, the overly sensationalized/dramatized voice reading passages of Derrida's philosophy did offer some incredible insight into his thoughts.

*******Update, May 4, 2007.

I just watched this film a second time. Why? I don't know. Curiousity, perhaps. I thought maybe after several months I would find something new in it. But I found nothing. IN fact, I reafirmed--even strengthened--my original stance that this film is an idiotic, hollywood attempt at cashing in on philosophy. I feel ashamed for the film makers, and empathetic for Jacques who had to suffer such idiotic probing. I hope he never watched this film. He must be turning in his grave.

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