Problems with film.

I think what Zizek has to offer in his approach to these much discussed films are his psychoanalytical preoccupations: subjects like the gaze, subjectivity, the abyss of the other, partial autonomous objects, the relationships between the real and the imaginary, the structure of the Freudian human subject (superego, ego, id), etc.

Films like Vertigo and The Birds, to name just two, are so rich in meaning that it can never be enough to simply say 'well, there's been a couple of books written about them already, so that's enough.'. There are probably thousands, if not tens of thousands of books about Hamlet and more being written as we speak. Different people and different generations find new things to say about important works, so I think there's plenty of room for Zizek's intervention.

It's partial, too short and somewhat obsessional but I found his approach is fascinating, entertaining and thought provoking. And in addition to the famous films you mention, there are revelations too, like his inclusion of the 1931 film 'Possession' in the opening few minutes.

I think it will be a sad day when film scholars agree that there is nothing more to be said about Tarkovsky or Hitchcock and in many ways you can see this documentary as more of an introduction to psychoanalytical themes than a guide to the films in question. You might argue that the title is therefore misleading but that's just Zizek for you. He's always amusing and provocative. And his analyses of The Conversation and the Lynch movies are very illuminating I think. The whole thing is beautifully staged and directed as well and for these reasons I think the film more than earns its place.

All the best.

Just by saying that 'Alien' is a bad film I refuse to accept your opinion.

I think your argument is valid only if other writers have already explored the points Zizek has- I can't verify that as I haven't read all of those books. And I imagine very few others have. And this is where Zizek (and even the role of TV) comes in- to make these theories more accessible. Most people who watch this doc won't be clued in, and Zizek is acting as an Idiot's Guide to Film Psychoanalysis.

I haven't seen the documentary, so I don't know his point about Star Wars EP3, but I don't think his point is whether a film is good or bad, it's about their psychoanalytic attributes, about what's under the surface.

Alien is certainly more than Jaws, and worth re-watching. For me it's the perfect example of the modern human, living in its antiseptic and asexual environment, coming face to face with its id (I think at one stage Ian Holm calls it perfection). And hell, you could spend hours displaying how the creature and its layer represent the vagina, sexuality, etc.

Zizek is not some film critic who makes value judgements whether the film is good or not, at least that's not his prime preoccupation. As a psychoanalyst and philosopher he's interested in what for instance the movies of Hollywood tell about western culture and what they tell about the subconscious fantasies and ideologies that are inherent in those movies. In his books that deal wide variety of subject from politics, philosophy, psychology to popculture etc. he has talked about Titanic, Sound of Music or even 300 (the Zack Snyder action flick) etc. as wells as those higly esteemed art directors Kieslowski, Lynch, Hitchcock etc. He believes that cinema tells a lot about the condition and the mental state of the culture where it is produced and consumed. So even a *beep* melodrama like Titanic can be interesting in that sense.

And about the question did he bring anything new? Show me the books that gives a lacanian-marxist reading of those filmmakers and their movies, other than Zizek's. I know there's been a lot of freudian interpretation of Hitchcock, but in this documentary Zizek gives interesting readings of Lynch, Coppola, Trier, Fight Club, Alien etc. and in a highly entertaining and even humorous as well as quite easily consumable way (many academic texts about movies are really boring).

I have done something really bad and I should be ashamed of myself but I couldn't resist. I cut the movie in the place that I thought was appropriate to make this movie little better. You can look at it in YouTube under name: "The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006) shorter cut done by me". You could choose to put English or french subtitles. I explained there why I did that.

"Alien" is a bad movie? The hell you say!


"Ass to ass. Ha ha ha ha. ASS TO ASS!"; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa5z77EI8y0

"Alien, a bad movie" Well you lost me right there.