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Derrida

Released Oct 23, 2002 1h 25m Documentary List
82% Tomatometer 34 Reviews 58% Audience Score 500+ Ratings
"Derrida" is a playful, personal and theoretical portrait of the internationally renowned French philosopher, Jacques Derrida. Best known for originating the movement known as deconstruction, Derrida's radical rethinking of the precepts on which Western metaphysics are founded has deeply influenced the studies of literature, philosophy, ethics, architecture and law, indelibly marking the intellectual landscape of the 20th and 21st centuries. Read More Read Less

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Critics Consensus

Derrida's intelligence and engaging personality make him an intriguing documentary subject.

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Critics Reviews

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Empire Magazine Rated: 3/5 Dec 30, 2006 Full Review Vic Vogler Denver Post 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. Rated: 3/4 Oct 24, 2003 Full Review Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle 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. Rated: 1/5 Oct 1, 2003 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 4/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 4/5 Aug 7, 2005 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews If you have any doubts about the film, just ask yourself how many other films have you seen about a renown modern philosopher. Rated: A- Jan 19, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member The audience is quickly burdened with the overbearing zeal of the filmmakers to record this man's private life. With little more than quotes and mildly amusing anecdotes to keep viewers awake, the film seems more like a trivial passion project than anything worth presenting to the larger public. By the time the film comes anywhere close to presenting a justification for its investigation of this reclusive and unfortunately uninteresting figure, it is unlikely that anyone will still be invested enough to care. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member If Derrida and postmodern thought interests you, you'll love it. I did.Groen's review nails it: 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. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member If you are steeped in the theory of deconstruction and just wish to know more about Derrida's hair cuts and choice of clothing articles you might be pleased with this documentary. If, however, you were hoping for a bit of insight into his ideas you are out of luck. Several quotes are read without any attempt of context or explanation. He prides himself on evading any probing questions on how he and his wife met, but later when he is asked what he would like to know about Heidegger or any other philosophers he says " about their sex life" . When he is asked if he would ever consider psychotherapy he answers with a resounding no. This humble viewer thinks it might have done him some good. Another interesting question he could not answer was "which philosopher would you have liked to be your mother? Clearly he was stumped, because women can think, but philosophers are men. Oh dear. What exactly were the producers of this drivel thinking? Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member derrida epitomizes the insufferable french pseudo-intellectual post-modernist snob. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Watched this twice, quite an interesting documentary if you want to know more about the life of this philosopher. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member 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. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Derrida

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Movie Info

Synopsis "Derrida" is a playful, personal and theoretical portrait of the internationally renowned French philosopher, Jacques Derrida. Best known for originating the movement known as deconstruction, Derrida's radical rethinking of the precepts on which Western metaphysics are founded has deeply influenced the studies of literature, philosophy, ethics, architecture and law, indelibly marking the intellectual landscape of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Director
Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering
Producer
Amy Ziering
Distributor
Zeitgeist Films
Production Co
Jane Doe Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 23, 2002, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 18, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$156.3K
Runtime
1h 25m
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