The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006)

86% of critics liked it
(21 reviews)
84% of users liked it
(2,308 ratings)

Renowned pop philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Zizek takes a closer look at the sexual history of films spanning the spectrum from Charlie Chaplain to David Lynch in filmmaker Sophie Fiennes' indulgent look at some of the silver screen's most sublime features. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Sophie Fiennes
Written By: Slavov Zizek
Genres: Documentary, Television

In Theaters: Jun 17, 2006 Wide
Studio: ICA Films

Critic Reviews

V.A. Musetto, New York Post
It is a fun romp through the annals of cinema by pop Slovenian philosopher and prolific writer Slavoj Zizek, who finds deep psychological meaning in a slew of movies.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
The teachers we remember most fondly are often the ones who entertained as they enlightened, through hyperbole seasoned with grains of salt. Mr. Zizek belongs in that company.
Vadim Rizov, Village Voice
[Zizek] steers clear of his usual dense Hegel-centric language and goes straight for the fun bits.
Miranda Siegel, New York Magazine
It sounds completely mad, but it hangs together because of the brilliant, hilarious decision to insert the garrulous philosopher into key scenes of the films he discusses.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
What helps the film rise above the level of a photographed college lecture is the director's inventive and playful presentation.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
A delightful two-and-a-half-hour repast for mindful film junkies.
Rob Nelson, City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Maybe the art house isn't a place for perverts anymore. Indeed, the privacy of one's own laptop seems a somewhat safer setting for Zizek's kinky act of criticism.
Matthew Sorrento, Film Threat
Cinematically speaking, you my find your meeting with psychoanalyst/film theorist Slavoj Zizek to be a near-religious experience.
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
Often drags and leaves you feeling underwhelmed.
Chris Barsanti, PopMatters
As a kind of Rorschach-blot interpretation of cinema, The Pervert's Guide to Cinema contains all kinds of wicked fascinations.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
Impresses with four stars for part one, but then fizzles out with the gabby shrink's repetitive, often meaningless psychobabble up to the finish line. Astute analysis or personal obsession? Paging the shrink's shrink.
Joseph Jon Lanthier, Slant Magazine
The playful anti-academic stances of Slavoj Zizek have often seemed like sheep's clothing to obscure yet another post-Marxist, neo-Lacanian thinker.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
If you love movies, this is a must-see.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
Brisk, entertaining and, yes, intense.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
Looking like no one so much as Ricky Tomlinson's crazed Slovenian twin brother, that unruly thinker and critic Slavoj Zizek gives us a highly entertaining and often brilliant tour of modern cinema.
David Parkinson, Empire Magazine
While this is fun, it's hardly sprocket science.
Tom Dawson, BBC
Above all The Pervert's Guide to Cinema ponders a crucial question for all film-goers: why do we continue to be emotionally affected by movies, even when we know they're fake?
Jeremy Heilman, MovieMartyr.com
When [narrator Slavoj Zizek's] firing on all cylinders, such as when he examines a series of voyeuristic characters peering through cracks or when he turns his analytical powers on Psycho, he brings new life to the films he discusses.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Randy T

Slavoj Zizek brings his study of philosophy and psychoanalysis to bear on some of the great masterworks of film, examining them for hidden and not-so-hidden symbolism. This is strictly for those who like to do more than mindlessly watch movies. This is an exercise in dissection and,… More
Slavoj Zizek brings his study of philosophy and psychoanalysis to bear on some of the great masterworks of film, examining them for hidden and not-so-hidden symbolism. This is strictly for those who like to do more than mindlessly watch movies. This is an exercise in dissection and, sometimes, in self-projection. Zizek reminds us of the importance of context and of viewing productions from a social perspective. It's arguable that the information presented here may not be completely accurate. Film, like any other visual media, is subject to interpretation and debate. Still, this is compelling stuff. Very educational.
Elvira B

Lacaan and cinema. Only if you are totally willing to hear what Zizek has to say. If you are not one to be told what to think, and most importantly, if you are not then able to examine and filter that information according to your standards, there's nothing here for you. Zizek… More
Lacaan and cinema. Only if you are totally willing to hear what Zizek has to say. If you are not one to be told what to think, and most importantly, if you are not then able to examine and filter that information according to your standards, there's nothing here for you. Zizek centers mostly on Hitchcock, Chaplin and Lynch, and about these subjects he is quite illuminating, but it's hardly a Universal vision of cinema! However, it's a starting point and a motive to search deeper into the extensive literature available regarding psychoanalytic perspectives on films and auteurs.
Ken S

Super Geeky fun
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]"The Pervert's Guide to Cinema" is an interesting documentary narrated and hosted by philosopher Slavoj Zizek wherein he examines cinema mostly from a psychoanalytical viewpoint.(Despite where I went to college, a lot of this went over my head.) Of… More
[font=Century Gothic]"The Pervert's Guide to Cinema" is an interesting documentary narrated and hosted by philosopher Slavoj Zizek wherein he examines cinema mostly from a psychoanalytical viewpoint.(Despite where I went to college, a lot of this went over my head.) Of the movies explored, he is especially consumed with those directed by Tarkovsky, Hitchcock(nearly all from the blonde period between Dial M for Murder and Marnie), Lynch(Dune is mentioned which is fine but it is a shame Eraserhead is not because I would have liked an explanation for that one), and Chaplin. And he makes an explicit connection between Hitchcock and Lynch. But he is no film snob as he also brings up Revenge of the Sith and Alien Resurrection. [/font] [font=Century Gothic]Visually, "The Pervert's Guide to Cinema" is not just Zizek talking and dispensing his theories. While talking, he is also juxtaposed with the reimagined sets of old films, even going so far as to go boating on Bodega Bay where The Birds was set and flushing the toilet in the hotel where The Conversation was set. This tactic leads to an exploration of one his favorite themes, the difference between reality and fantasy. What amazes him is how we get caught up in a story we know is not really happening. I will use examples he provides but not in the same way he uses them. The first is with Alien. Now, no matter how many times I am told, I cannot think of the scene where the alien hatches as not being real and that summarizes a lot of the problems I have with horror, separating what I should know is fake from real violence. The second is the scene in The Matrix where Morpheus(Laurence Fishburne) is offering Neo(Keanu Reeves) the two pills. Now after that scene, the movie became a lot less fun for me as the reality of Neo's existence was shown, surrendering the mystery, and it was not as fascinating as I thought it was going to be.[/font] [font=Century Gothic]While Zizek does share a lot of good insights, he misses the boat completely when it comes to pornography. The problem with porn is not the writing, or lack of any, because nobody really cares what the plot is. It is the direction. What is needed is better filmmaking. Anyway, some theatrical movies have started to go beyond Hollywood in their depictions of explicit sex which is a good thing. [/font]
Alec B

Being a philosopher, psychoanalysist, and Freudian lap dog its safe to say Slavoj Zizek has some interesting things to say about movies. I know nothing about this man outside of what I saw here, but he seems to be slightly qualified so let's all listen. He looks at several films,… More
Being a philosopher, psychoanalysist, and Freudian lap dog its safe to say Slavoj Zizek has some interesting things to say about movies. I know nothing about this man outside of what I saw here, but he seems to be slightly qualified so let's all listen. He looks at several films, most notably the works of Hitchcock and David Lynch (at one point he even looks at Revenge of the Sith and has something interesting to say about it. Who Knew!?) His claims about movies range from fascinating, to confusing, to totally ludicrous. But I was engaged the whole time. Here's a fun little teaser. In Hitchcock's The Birds, the birds are the incestuous anger of the mother of that guy Tippi Hendren's character likes. WOW!
Sunil J

A bit overanalyzed but kinda fun.
Wu C

Worth a watch if you love classic cinema.