DVD Talk review of 'Derrida'
06-17-04, 11:46 AM
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DVD Talk review of 'Derrida'
I read Gil Jawetz's DVD review of Derrida at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=11103 and...
perhaps this should really be reviewed by someone who would appreciate Derrida.
perhaps this should really be reviewed by someone who would appreciate Derrida.
06-17-04, 12:10 PM
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It shouldn't be a prerequisite to watching a film about an important philosopher, that you already appreciate his work. Ideally, an excellent documentary will *make* you appreciate his work and bring you to a greater understanding of it. My take on the review is that the film fails to deal adequately with its subject - which has nothing to do with whether or not the reviewer liked Derrida to begin with.
Gil may not be a Derrida fan, but I think he gives the film (and Derrida) a fair shake; readers will be able to use the review to decide whether or not the DVD is likely to appeal to them. Personally, I absolutely positively loathe deconstructionism, and I think that Derrida (and most other literary theorists) are spouting a bunch of $@(&#$^! and I suspect I would have had a hard time being as reasonable as Gil if I'd been the one to review it.
Gil may not be a Derrida fan, but I think he gives the film (and Derrida) a fair shake; readers will be able to use the review to decide whether or not the DVD is likely to appeal to them. Personally, I absolutely positively loathe deconstructionism, and I think that Derrida (and most other literary theorists) are spouting a bunch of $@(&#$^! and I suspect I would have had a hard time being as reasonable as Gil if I'd been the one to review it.
06-17-04, 03:02 PM
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The way DVD reviews work here is that reviewers for the most part get to pick what they want to review. This, of course, leaves a huge backlog of stuff that no one wants. The Derrida DVD fell into that category. It sat in the queue for half a year or so until Geoff, the editor of the site, just sent it to me along with stuff that I had requested. So, it's safe to assume that of the numerous writers on staff no one wanted it any more than I did. I did try to give it a fair shake, as Holly says, and judge it on its own merits (a tactic that has left me pleasantly surprised many times). Derrida, however, is a chore to sit through, and not solely because of Derrida himself; It's not good filmmaking. Feel free to disagree. I was nervous about writing the review because I'm not an expert on the subject matter but felt pretty proud of the result. I may not "get" Derrida, but frankly I don't think the filmmakers did either.
Have you seen the film? What are your thoughts on it?
Have you seen the film? What are your thoughts on it?
