''Zizek!'' or ''Žižek!'', is a 2005

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed by

Astra Taylor Astra Taylor (born September 30, 1979) is a Canadian-American documentary filmmaker, writer, activist, and musician. She is a fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation for her work on challenging predatory practices around debt. Life Born in Winni ...

. An international co-production of the United States and Canada, its subject is philosopher and psychoanalyst

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek (, ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New ...

, a prolific author and former candidate for the Presidency of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

. ''Zizek!'' premiered at the

2005 Toronto International Film Festival The 30th Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 8–17 and screened 335 films from 52 countries - 109 of these films were world premieres, and 78 were North American premieres. Awards At the Festival's closing event, the following ...

on September 11, 2005 and opened in one theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

on November 17. It eventually grossed $20,177 in the US and $20,154 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $40,331.

Critical reception

A. O. Scott of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' observed, "Ms. Taylor, clearly thrilled by her proximity to her hero, seems incapable of the analytical distance that would provide insight into either his ideas or the cultural phenomenon he represents. On the basis of this film, it is hard to know whether Mr. Žižek's superstar status is merited, or to say what his cult says about the state of contemporary thought. ''Zizek!'' is entertaining without being especially illuminating." Eddie Cockrell of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called the film a "verbose profile" of Žižek containing "a lot of esoteric, eccentric theories, and little context within his globetrotting life." Sean Axmaker of the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

'' graded the film B and said it "attempts to put Žižek's philosophy into practical, accessible terms. Accessible, of course, being a relative term — key concepts are dropped through the film in snippets and sound bites that are gone before you've had a chance to really chew them over. You may not grasp his ideological philosophy, but you'll have a good time making the attempt."

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' rated the film three out of five stars, adding he thought it "doesn't quite have the interest and focus of

Sophie Fiennes Sophia Victoria Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (; born 12 February 1967), better known as Sophie Fiennes, is an English film director and producer. She is the sister of actors Ralph Fiennes and Joseph Fiennes, director Martha Fiennes and composer Ma ...

' recent Žižek documentary, '' The Pervert's Guide to Cinema''."''The Guardian'' review
/ref>

References

External links

* * * * {{Metacritic film 2005 films American documentary films Canadian documentary films 2005 documentary films Documentary films about Slavoj Žižek Documentary films about philosophers Films about philosophy 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s Canadian films

Critical reception

See also

References

External links