Examined Life

Filmmaker Astra Taylor, whose previous documentary about the philosopher Slavoj Zizek premiered in 2005, has decided to up the ante in her latest, Examined Life. Here she takes Zizek and adds several storied academics, letting them riff in various locations that help to keep this film of ideas lively enough to hold the interest of deep sleepers as well as deep thinkers. Still, only the truly philosophical will be signing up for this journey thus limiting its true box office potential to the DVD shelves of college bookstores.

The idea is a good one, in which sometimes ponderous and meandering philosophical discussion is taken out of the classroom and shot on location. Taylor pulls this assignment off in style, managing to get her studious players outdoors to wax rhapsodic on everything from the ethics of consumption to the nature of revolution. In this context we get Taylor favorite, Zizek, wandering through a garbage dump while pontificating on the environment. Peter Singer trolls New York’s posh fifth avenue and its upscale stores. Michael Hardt talks revolution as signs of wealth and power surround him. We also have the best known of the bunch, Cornel West, driving thru the Big Apple, comparing his definitions of philosophy to jazz in such an innovative way as to be completely understandable. A nice sequence focuses on Taylor’s paralyzed sister and Judith Butler as they shop in a low rent San Francisco clothing store.

All of these philosophers are limited to ten minutes and surrounded by colorful locales. Most amusing of the bunch is Avital Ronell who complains about the time limit while saying she thinks it should apply to everyone else but her. Martha Nussbaum and K. Anthony Appiah also turn up but despite the clever filmmaking style and neat backdrops (we especially enjoyed the rowing sequence in Central Park), this film of “ideas” runs out of them rather quickly and, for everyone but disciples of these thinkers, it gets rather old.

Yes, examining philosophy for the greater effect it can have is admiral but it seems to get lost as the film jumps from one personality to another, never lingering long enough to get anything more than a cliffs notes version of what these esteemed minds are really capable of communicating.

Distributor: Zeitgeist Films
Cast: Peter Singer, Slavoj Zizek, Michael Hardt, Cornel West, Judith Butler, Martha Nussbaum, K. Anthony Appiah, Sunaura Taylor and Avital Ronell
Director/Writer: Astra Taylor
Producers: Lea Marin and Bill Imperial
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 88 min
Release date: February 25 NY, May 1 LA