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Derrida (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:34
Fresh:28
Rotten:6
Average Rating:6.7/10
Consensus: Derrida's intelligence and engaging personality make him an intriguing documentary subject.
Theatrical Release:Oct 23, 2002 Limited
Synopsis: DERRIDA is a complex personal and theoretical portrait of the internationally renowned French philosopher, Jacques Derrida. Best known for generating a movement known as "deconstruction", Derrida's... DERRIDA is a complex personal and theoretical portrait of the internationally renowned French philosopher, Jacques Derrida. Best known for generating a movement known as "deconstruction", Derrida's radical rethinking of the founding precepts of Western metaphysics has profoundly influenced the fields of literature, philosophy, ethics, architecture and law, inalterably transforming the intellectual landscape of the 20th and 21st centuries. Produced with Derrida's full cooperation and consent, the film is the most ambitious cinematic project ever undertaken with a world-class philosopher. Initiated by Amy Ziering Kofman, who studied with Derrida at Yale in the 80's, and co-directed by Kirby Dick and Ziering Kofman, DERRIDA is neither a conventional film biography nor a primer on his thinking. Rather, in the spirit of Derrida's own writing, the film investigates the concept of biography itself and explores the nature and limitations of the cinematic form in addressing philosophical thought. Through the interlacing of rare verite footage of Derrida in his private life with his reflections on deconstruction, violence, the structure of love, the history of philosophy, and the death of his mother, the film raises questions about the relations between the public and the private, the personal and the theoretical, the biographical and the philosophical, becoming a rich and moving meditation on both Derrida himself and the themes that haunt and inspire his work. Directed by Kirby Dick ("Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan Supermasochist", "Chain Camera") and Amy Ziering Kofman (Producer, "Taylor's Campaign"), with an original score by Oscar winning composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto ("The Last Emperor", "Taboo," "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence"). -- © 2002 Jane Doe Films [More]
Starring: Jacques Derrida
Starring: Jacques Derrida
Director: Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering Kofman
Director: Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering Kofman
Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Studio: Zeitgeist Films
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Reviews for Derrida
If you have any doubts about the film, just ask yourself how many other films have you seen about a renown modern philosopher.
I'm not sure you'll leave the movie understanding every nuance of 'deconstruction,' but you'll have a real sense of a sophisticated thinker.
Exhibits a devotion to its subject that just might drive you to his books and make you wish for tea with the man who wrote them.
Along the way, we absorb bits and pieces of Derrida's ideas, but the total is insufficient for the newcomer to come away with any focused understanding of Derrida and only seems to fuel the dangerous cult of hero worship.
Derrida turns out to be an engaging, provocative and droll fellow before the cameras.
Derrida, with his mane of white hair, piercing gaze and pipe clenched between his teeth, may be the most watchable thinker since Rodin's.
The picture's charm lies in the continuing by-play between the filmmakers and their subject, with each side doing its best to deconstruct the other.
We are left with a superficial snapshot that, however engaging, is insufficiently enlightening and inviting.
At the very least, if you don't know anything about Derrida when you walk into the theater, you won't know much more when you leave.
Whether or not you're enlightened by any of Derrida's lectures on "the other" and "the self," Derrida is an undeniably fascinating and playful fellow.
Dense and thoughtful and brimming with ideas that are too complex to be rapidly absorbed.
An enthralling, playful film that constantly frustrates our desire to know the 'truth' about this man, while deconstructing the very format of the biography in a manner that Derrida would doubtless give his blessing to.
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