Pierre Bourdieu: sociology is a martial art.

If Americans have heard of the late Pierre Bourdieu at all, it is most likely because some of his more turgid prose is often cited by academics with an interest in cultural studies. Bourdieu's reputation was much different in France, where he was celebrated, and occasionally derided, as an activist intellectual who attempted to flee the boundaries of the Ivory Tower by reaching out to communities (Algerian immigrants, working-class youths, anarchists) who usually have little use for or interest in the work of famous academics. Pierre Carles's compelling documentary (a hit on the French art-house circuit) demonstrates that Bourdieu--far from a mere jargon-spouting sociologist, fervently believed that links between social scientists and the more marginal segments of society could be productively forged. While Bourdieu was a calm, if genial, man who spurned histrionics, it is truly moving to see him discussing his radical brand of sociology--in an empathetic and unpatronizing fashion--with callers to a radio talk show, admirers at a book signing, and angry unemployed workers from a town written off by the central government in Paris. Perhaps because he came from a rural, lower-class background himself, Bourdieu never affected the chilly hauteur that too often accompanies intellectual debate in France. And Carles's film, unlike the more gimmicky Manufacturing Consent (on Noam Chomsky--perhaps in some respects the U.S. equivalent of Bourdieu), does not present its protagonist's life work as a series of catchy sound bites. Caries actually respects his audience and treats us to the glories of an uninterrupted talking head. (Distributed by First Run/ Icarus Films, 32 Court St., Brooklyn NY 11201, phone [phone], www.frif.com)

Richard Porton is completing a new book on prostitution and the cinema to be published later this year by Cooper Square Press