Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Derrida

 
Movies:

Derrida

Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Movies
  • Directors: Kirby Dick; Amy Ziering Kofman
  • AMG Rating: starstarstar
  • Genre: Spirituality & Philosophy
  • Movie Type: Philosophy, Biography
  • Release Year: 2002
  • Country: FR/US
  • Run Time: 84 minutes

Plot

Jacques Derrida is a French author and philosopher who is regarded as one of the world's leading exponents of deconstructionism, a school of thought which argues (among many other things) that "truth" is not an absolute, and must be viewed within the context of the mindset of the person expressing it and the frameworks within which the idea has been related. Appropriately enough, Derrida, a documentary about the man's life and work, offers its subject many opportunities to present his ideas directly to the camera, and even allows him to deconstruct himself as he offers commentary while watching one of his interviews on a video monitor -- and later, analyzes his own deconstructive analysis. Derrida was directed by Kirby Dick, who previously won acclaim for a film about another highly individual thinker, "supermasochist" Bob Flanagan in Sick. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Review

This biography is something of a missed opportunity; the makers had such open access to the life of this brilliant philosopher and yet asked such poor questions. Even Derrida himself chides director Amy Ziering Kofman at one point for a question being too generalized, explaining she can't just ask him to "talk about love -- ready, go." Peppered throughout the biography are voice-over segments of passages from Derrida's works, translated into English, read by Ziering Kofman. The chosen passages effectively offer viewers a glimpse into his output's variety, scope, and sheer amount (as does the visit to a university's archive), and may inspire viewers to go read more by Derrida. The narrator, however, delivers them in an unnecessarily melodramatic tone more appropriate for inspirational poems than for Derrida's writing; the selections already have meaning and feeling and don't need dramatizing for emphasis. Despite these weaknesses, it's wonderful to see what Jacques Derrida is like, experience his sense of humor, meet his family, see the twinkle in his eye, and watch him in action teaching a class, being at home, and visiting with friends. His strong personality comes through clearly in this film. And, with so many of his thoughts and ideas readily available in print, isn't what he's like as a person what we're actually looking for here, anyway? While flawed, Derrida is still of great interest to anyone curious about this brilliant man or about modern philosophy in general. ~ Joslyn Layne, All Movie Guide

Cast

Jacques Derrida - Himself

Credit

Kirby Dick - Director, Amy Ziering Kofman - Director, Kirby Dick - Editor, Matthew Clarke - Editor, Ryuichi Sakamoto - Composer (Music Score), Kirsten Johnson - Cinematographer, Amy Ziering Kofman - Producer

Similar Movies

The Ister; Zizek!; Big Ideas: A New History of the World; Selves and Others: A Portrait of Edward Said
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: Derrida (film)
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Derrida
Directed by Kirby Dick
Amy Ziering Kofman
Produced by Amy Ziering Kofman
Music by Ryuichi Sakamoto
Cinematography Kirsten Johnson
Editing by Kirby Dick
Matthew Clarke
Studio Jane Doe Films
Distributed by Zeitgeist Films
Release date(s) January 2002 (Sundance Film Festival)
October 23, 2002 (USA)
Running time 85 minutes
Country  United States
Language English
French

Derrida is a 2002 American documentary film directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering Kofman about the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. It premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival before being released theatrically on October 23, 2002.

Contents

Synopsis

The film utilizes several techniques to create a biographical portrait of Jacques Derrida. These include interviews shot by the filmmakers, footage of Derrida's lectures and speaking engagements, and personal footage of Derrida at home with his friends and family. In several scenes, Ziering Kofman also reads excerpts from Derrida's work or otherwise describes aspects of his life.

Derrida also focuses on Derrida's thesis that scholars tend to ignore important biographical information when discussing philosophers' lives[1]. In one scene, Derrida comments that he would be most interested in hearing about famous philosophers' sex lives because this topic is seldom addressed in their writings. The filmmakers respond to many of these criticisms by probing Derrida on various aspects of his own personal life, though he usually refuses to directly answer questions about himself.

The film also follows Derrida during a trip to South Africa where he visits Nelson Mandela's former prison cell and discusses forgiveness with university students. Derrida states that his own childhood experiences with anti-Semitism have heightened his sensitivity to racial issues.

Analysis

At several points, Derrida shows the philosopher applying his theory of deconstruction to the film itself[2]. Derrida often challenges the filmmaking process and argues against the capability of any film to portray him accurately. The film also includes metacinematic scenes in which Derrida analyzes previously recorded footage of himself. In one such scene, Derrida telescopically watches a video of himself analyzing footage of himself.

Nicholas Royle argues that the film's labyrinthine, Ouroboros-like structure reinforces several key Derridean tenets:

"If Dick and Ziering Kofman follow Derrida, Derrida is also following them. Derrida is a film about following, about the compulsiveness and ghostliness of following, of following the camera, of following the story, of following a film. But Derrida is also a film about the impossibility of following, about the consequences and effects of Derrida's work vis-à-vis the 'story of a life', about the idea that Derrida cannot tell a story."[3]

Reception

Film critics generally gave Derrida positive reviews. Kenneth Turan of The Los Angeles Times praised the film for its sophisticated style and said it was "the cinematic equivalent of a mind-expanding drug"[4] while Film Threat's Tim Merrill described it as "a priceless historical record."[5] Other critics, like The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, found the film whimsical and entertaining but lamented Derrida's evasive and mysterious demeanor[6].

Derrida received the Golden Gate Award at the 2002 San Francisco Film Festival and screened in competition for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

Aftermath

Derrida enjoyed the film and appeared at several promotional events to discuss the film and answer questions about the project[7].

Derrida died in 2004.

In 2005, Routledge published a companion book, Derrida, which includes the film's screenplay, several essays on the film, and interviews with Derrida, Dick, and Ziering Kofman. The book describes many of the events that followed the film's release, including Derrida's unexpected celebrity status on the streets of New York City. This phenomenon prompted Derrida's wife to remark to the filmmakers, "I hear you've made him into Clint Eastwood."[7]

References

  1. ^ Thomassen, Lasse. "Derridaphilia". culturemachine.net. http://culturemachine.tees.ac.uk/Reviews/rev55.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-30. 
  2. ^ Jeffries, Stuart (2003-01-18). "Lights! Camera! Think!". guardian.co.uk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2003/jan/18/artsfeatures.highereducation. Retrieved 2009-08-30. 
  3. ^ Royle, Nicholas (2005). "Blind Cinema". in Dick, Kirby; Ziering Kofman, Amy. Derrida. Routledge. p. 16. ISBN 0415974070. 
  4. ^ Turan, Kenneth (2002-11-08). "Movie Review: Derrida". latimes.com. http://www.calendarlive.com/cl-et-derrida8nov08,0,5435572.story. Retrieved 2009-08-30. 
  5. ^ Merrill, Tim (2002-10-27). "Derrida". filmthreat.com. http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=2660. Retrieved 2009-08-30. 
  6. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (2003-01-31). "Derrida". guardian.co.uk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2003/jan/31/artsfeatures6. Retrieved 2009-08-30. 
  7. ^ a b Dick, Kirby (2005). "Resting on the Edge of An Impossible Confidence". in Dick, Kirby; Ziering Kofman, Amy. Derrida. Routledge. p. 47-9. ISBN 0415974070. 

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Movies. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Derrida (film)".  Read more