Perverted Movie Lovers Rejoice!

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 23, 2013 7:00PM

In the world of philosopher/cultural thinker Slavoj Žižek, the movies are a place where our deepest hopes and fears are allowed to play out larger than life. And even though the demands of entertainment and commerce act to constrain those impulses, the restrictions are in and of themselves illuminating. In The Pervert's Guide to Cinema, one of our favorite movies of 2006, Žižek took a stroll through dozens of classics, ranging from The Matrix and Fight Club to Vertigo and Blue Velvet, uncovering subtext and drawing provocative conclusions. For instance, the lesson of Fight Club, Žižek declares, is: ”Sometimes to attack the enemy you first have to beat the shit out of yourself.” Arguably our favorite moment is where he deconstructs the Marx Brothers. Groucho = superego; Chico = ego; Harpo = id.

Now Žižek and director Sophie Fiennes are back with a followup, The Pervert's Guide to Ideology, running Nov. 1-7 at the Siskel Film Center. Once again the lisping Slovenian inserts himself into some of the most memorable scenes of modern cinema. Literally. He discourses on Scorsese while standing in Travis Bickle's room in Taxi Driver, hangs out in A Clockwork Orange's Korova Milk Bar, and even bobs around in the icy waters surrounding the sunken Titanic. Fiennes and her creative team uncannily recreate the settings of these and other movies, including The Sound of Music, John Carpenter's They Live, and The Dark Knight. If you're a perverted movie lover (or perhaps even a lover of perverted movies) it's an absolute must see.

The Gene Siskel Film Center is located at 164 N. State