Zizek!

Can philosophy be entertaining? This slice-of-life portrait of the Slovenian "Lacanian Marxist" Slavoj Zizek attempts to answer in the affirmative by presenting bite-sized clips of his speeches and glimpses into his homelife and interactions with readers. Zizek is a colorful individual—burly, bearded, speaking fluent English with sibilant Ss—who is well aware that he is perceived as "clownish" by the mainstream media. With his use of layman's language to describe complicated concepts and his overriding contentiousness, he plays into this image (as when he proudly displays a Stalin portrait in his apartment despite loathing the man's policies). First-time filmmaker Taylor highlights this college professor's impishness, offering some background to help viewers better understand Zizek's life and theories by way of inter-titles, which contain large chunks of information (the philosopher's early life; his seminal theses; and a quick overview of his hero, Jacques Lacan). Taylor's fangirl appreciation of Zizek leads her to include coy sequences of herself interacting with the master—ordering breakfast, buying him DVDs and being amused by his one-liners. One thus comes away with a modest understanding of the man's beliefs and a thorough appreciation for his wacky personality. Target students and literate renters who enjoyed previous thumbnail-philosophy sketches such as Derrida.