MAYBE PHILOSOPHY 101 WASN'T SO BAD AFTER ALL.Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic THOSE WHO MANAGED to avoid the Deconstructionist theorizing of French philosopher Jacques Derrida Noun 1. Jacques Derrida - French philosopher and critic (born in Algeria); exponent of deconstructionism (1930-2004) Derrida in college can now take an 85-minute brush-up course with the documentary ``Derrida.'' Or, you can do something fun tonight. Which is not to say that filmmakers Kirby Dick (``Sick,'' ``Chain Camera'') and Amy Ziering Kofman, a former student of the renowned thinker, haven't tried to make the picture enjoyable in their intellectual, droning drone 1 n. 1. A male bee, especially a honeybee, that is characteristically stingless, performs no work, and produces no honey. Its only function is to mate with the queen bee. 2. way. Luckily enough, Derrida himself turns out to be a playful sort, carping carp·ing adj. Naggingly critical or complaining. carp  ing·ly adv.Noun 1. amusingly under his glowing mane mane the region of long coarse hair at the dorsal border of the neck and terminating at the poll in the forelock. Present in the horse and other Equidae. Similar gatherings of coarse hairs are present in the giraffe, gnu, various antelope, cheetah and lion. Called also juba. of white hair about how filmmaking accouterments ac·cou·ter·ment or ac·cou·tre·ment n. 1. An accessory item of equipment or dress. Often used in the plural. 2. Military equipment other than uniforms and weapons. Often used in the plural. 3. affect his behavior and responses, and saying things like, ``I have nothing to say about love,'' then saying a lot about it. But even with that, to really get into this movie, you've probably either got to be a Derrida devotee, or someone who's somehow managed to get far enough in life to go to a documentary like this, but without ever perceiving Deconstruction's basic assumption that everything is fit for questioning - for whom it will be a complete revelation. For the vast majority of rational creatures who register somewhere in between those two extremes, the film offers both interesting and obvious thoughts from Derrida on specific subjects such as forgiveness, biography and, um, ``Seinfeld'' (``Deconstruction has nothing to do with sitcom!'' he asserts). There is footage of the great man visiting South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. and buttering toast. We get key background information (a Jew raised in Algeria, he suffered as a child under Vichy French policies, though his family escaped the greater Holocaust horrors). And we're left with the impression that the influential genius is, in most ways, just like anybody else. With better hair, though. Have an educational time. DERRIDA - Two and one half stars (Not rated) Directors: Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering Kofman. Running time: 1 hr. 25 min. Playing: Nuart, West L.A. In a nutshell: Eighty-five minutes spent with the white-haired French philosopher a fun night at the movies? Deconstruct de·con·struct tr.v. de·con·struct·ed, de·con·struct·ing, de·con·structs 1. To break down into components; dismantle. 2. that. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: French philosopher Jacques Derrida is the subject of an occasionally amusing, but densely intellectual documentary. |
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