-By Eric Monder
For movie details, please click here.
In
Examined Life, Canadian filmmaker Astra Taylor makes
philosophical musing less Ivory Tower and more Hot Dog Stand,
thanks to her genial approach. Here is a film about the complexity
of human thought that should be inviting to even the everyday
moviegoer.
Astra and her crew interview a select number of established
writers, speakers and activists who offer their unique views of our
existence. By placing her star “eggheads” against very particular
backdrops, Astra adds a bit of (sometimes ironic) commentary of her
own.
Thus, we hear from Slavoj Zizek (the subject of Taylor’s previous
Zizek! and Sophie Fiennes’
The Pervert’s Guide to
Cinema) unexpectedly warning against conservation in front of a
London garbage dump; Peter Singer critiquing consumer capitalism on
Manhattan’s ritzy Fifth Avenue; Michael Hardt reconsidering the
impact of revolution while rowing a boat in Central Park; Martha
Nussbaum reassessing social democracy, also in a public park;
Avital Ronell pondering obsessive human behavior, once again in a
park; Judith Butler talking about individualism and the social
contract as she strolls through the Mission District of San
Francisco with artist friend Sunaura Taylor; Kwame Anthony Appiah
examining the impact of globalization on civilization as he walks
through a busy airport terminal; and Cornel West (probably the most
recognizable figure in the film) comparing jazz to life, death and
human need while speeding along in a taxi cab.
In addition to positioning each thinker in an amusing or revealing
mise-en-scène (though maybe one too many in New York),
Taylor interweaves the interviews, which gives the film an edge
that otherwise might not have been there. Still, Taylor might have
looked for either greater common threads or contrapuntal clashes by
more frequent intercutting. She even might have created a truly
brilliant film had she staged a “meeting-of-the-minds” type of
production or injected more startling and deliberate
self-reflexivity. At least she avoids (for the most part) letting
each person pontificate in stodgy or academic set-pieces.
While less “democratic” than, say, Richard Linklater’s two similar
films,
Slacker and
Waking Life, which offer the views of unknown men and
women on the street, it is still a plus to capture well-regarded
names in a sort of cinematic time-capsule (something to consider
for the next generation of thinkers as well). And
Examined
Life is far better than some other pretentious and confusing
attempts at understanding the meaning of life, such as
What the
Bleep Do We Know? and the more recent
Mattie Fresno and the Holoflux Universe.
Examined Life is not (and shouldn’t be) just for glum
intellectuals.
For more information on the film, including where to find a
screening, please visit the
official
website.
Film Review: Examined Life
Philosophy as a film subject doesn’t usually sell many tickets, but hopefully Examined Life will be the exception. This penetrating documentary covers some of the more original thinking of the last several years through interviews with engaging provocateurs.
Feb 25, 2009
-By Eric Monder
For movie details, please click here.
In
Examined Life, Canadian filmmaker Astra Taylor makes philosophical musing less Ivory Tower and more Hot Dog Stand, thanks to her genial approach. Here is a film about the complexity of human thought that should be inviting to even the everyday moviegoer.
Astra and her crew interview a select number of established writers, speakers and activists who offer their unique views of our existence. By placing her star “eggheads” against very particular backdrops, Astra adds a bit of (sometimes ironic) commentary of her own.
Thus, we hear from Slavoj Zizek (the subject of Taylor’s previous
Zizek! and Sophie Fiennes’
The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema) unexpectedly warning against conservation in front of a London garbage dump; Peter Singer critiquing consumer capitalism on Manhattan’s ritzy Fifth Avenue; Michael Hardt reconsidering the impact of revolution while rowing a boat in Central Park; Martha Nussbaum reassessing social democracy, also in a public park; Avital Ronell pondering obsessive human behavior, once again in a park; Judith Butler talking about individualism and the social contract as she strolls through the Mission District of San Francisco with artist friend Sunaura Taylor; Kwame Anthony Appiah examining the impact of globalization on civilization as he walks through a busy airport terminal; and Cornel West (probably the most recognizable figure in the film) comparing jazz to life, death and human need while speeding along in a taxi cab.
In addition to positioning each thinker in an amusing or revealing
mise-en-scène (though maybe one too many in New York), Taylor interweaves the interviews, which gives the film an edge that otherwise might not have been there. Still, Taylor might have looked for either greater common threads or contrapuntal clashes by more frequent intercutting. She even might have created a truly brilliant film had she staged a “meeting-of-the-minds” type of production or injected more startling and deliberate self-reflexivity. At least she avoids (for the most part) letting each person pontificate in stodgy or academic set-pieces.
While less “democratic” than, say, Richard Linklater’s two similar films,
Slacker and
Waking Life, which offer the views of unknown men and women on the street, it is still a plus to capture well-regarded names in a sort of cinematic time-capsule (something to consider for the next generation of thinkers as well). And
Examined Life is far better than some other pretentious and confusing attempts at understanding the meaning of life, such as
What the Bleep Do We Know? and the more recent
Mattie Fresno and the Holoflux Universe.
Examined Life is not (and shouldn’t be) just for glum intellectuals.
For more information on the film, including where to find a screening, please visit the
official website.