3.5/4
The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology is little more than a glorified two-hour lecture from Slavoj Žižek, discussing the intersection between our dreams, hegemonic ideologies (be they capitalist or communist), and cinema. Žižek’s ideas are often brilliant, though not without their flaws, but that doesn’t matter as the man is quite simply always a pleasure to listen to. He is funny, ironic, and sharp, a thick Slovene accent perforated by constant tics that make him come across as either suffering from a really bad cold or as if he’s in the midst of a cocaine bender. Director Sophie Fiennes’ decision to dress up Žižek up in the same locales as the films he’s analysing provides a nice visual element to the film, adding humour and lightness to an otherwise heavy argument. Like everything else he does, it’s endlessly entertaining, and when it comes to philosophy I prefer that to solipsistic Germans moaning about how shite everything is.
