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| Sophie Fiennes: 'Film-goers are bored with being talked down to' | Sophie Fiennes: 'Film-goers are bored with being talked down to' |
| (4 months later) | |
| Sophie Fiennes doesn't like to make things easy for herself. The acclaimed documentary-maker's latest project is a two-hour philosophical disquisition on the nature of ideology, presented by the Slovenian psychoanalytic thinker, Slavoj Žižek. | Sophie Fiennes doesn't like to make things easy for herself. The acclaimed documentary-maker's latest project is a two-hour philosophical disquisition on the nature of ideology, presented by the Slovenian psychoanalytic thinker, Slavoj Žižek. |
| "I like to give myself a set of components or ingredients, like for cooking," Fiennes says when I ask her if she's got a screw loose. "So I don't quite know how it's going to turn out." | "I like to give myself a set of components or ingredients, like for cooking," Fiennes says when I ask her if she's got a screw loose. "So I don't quite know how it's going to turn out." |
| A typical scene from The Pervert's Guide to Ideology, Fiennes's second collaboration with Žižek, features the charismatic thinker expounding forcefully on the Lacanian notion of "the big Other", with reference to popular movies ranging from The Sound of Music to Full Metal Jacket. In a visually playful twist, Fiennes shows Žižek speaking from replica sets, as though he is speaking from within the films themselves – and, by extension, from within our own memories. The result is like the most exhilarating university lecture you've ever seen. | A typical scene from The Pervert's Guide to Ideology, Fiennes's second collaboration with Žižek, features the charismatic thinker expounding forcefully on the Lacanian notion of "the big Other", with reference to popular movies ranging from The Sound of Music to Full Metal Jacket. In a visually playful twist, Fiennes shows Žižek speaking from replica sets, as though he is speaking from within the films themselves – and, by extension, from within our own memories. The result is like the most exhilarating university lecture you've ever seen. |
| "I believe that people are all open to exploring the very edge of their thinking," says Fiennes, 46, when we meet in the members' cafe at Tate Modern, overlooking an impressive sweep of London skyline. | "I believe that people are all open to exploring the very edge of their thinking," says Fiennes, 46, when we meet in the members' cafe at Tate Modern, overlooking an impressive sweep of London skyline. |
| This is Fiennes's seventh documentary, following on from award-winning works such as Over Your Cities, Grass Will Grow, a film project with the artist Anselm Kiefer, and a biopic of the choreographer Michael Clark. | This is Fiennes's seventh documentary, following on from award-winning works such as Over Your Cities, Grass Will Grow, a film project with the artist Anselm Kiefer, and a biopic of the choreographer Michael Clark. |
| But in an age when the box office relies on computer-generated cartoon characters for its profits, is it a gamble to produce such unabashedly intellectual work? | But in an age when the box office relies on computer-generated cartoon characters for its profits, is it a gamble to produce such unabashedly intellectual work? |
| "People are bored with being talked down to," Fiennes replies. | "People are bored with being talked down to," Fiennes replies. |
| Fiennes and Žižek previously worked together on The Pervert's Guide to Cinema in 2006 (the pervert of the title refers to the idea of perverting our preconceptions, rather than anything more X-rated), which explored the philosopher's ideas on fantasy, sexuality and subjectivity in film. | Fiennes and Žižek previously worked together on The Pervert's Guide to Cinema in 2006 (the pervert of the title refers to the idea of perverting our preconceptions, rather than anything more X-rated), which explored the philosopher's ideas on fantasy, sexuality and subjectivity in film. |
| They have since developed a close working relationship – Fiennes goes away and "reads all the books", then asks Žižek to elaborate on the ideas she finds most interesting while the camera is rolling. There is no script – sometimes Žižek can speak for 17 minutes in full flow – which means the post-production can be lengthy. Fiennes spent the best part of a year editing The Pervert's Guide to Ideology. | They have since developed a close working relationship – Fiennes goes away and "reads all the books", then asks Žižek to elaborate on the ideas she finds most interesting while the camera is rolling. There is no script – sometimes Žižek can speak for 17 minutes in full flow – which means the post-production can be lengthy. Fiennes spent the best part of a year editing The Pervert's Guide to Ideology. |
| Žižek, she insists, has "an amazing sense of humour", at one point even agreeing to be filmed while sitting on a lavatory. | Žižek, she insists, has "an amazing sense of humour", at one point even agreeing to be filmed while sitting on a lavatory. |
| Fiennes, who is the sister of actors Ralph and Joseph, says her siblings are "very involved… it's great that we all share the same interests". Her younger brother, Magnus, composed the score for the film and the creative impulse appears to have been passed down to Fiennes's three-year-old son, Horace, who has already developed a taste for jazz. | Fiennes, who is the sister of actors Ralph and Joseph, says her siblings are "very involved… it's great that we all share the same interests". Her younger brother, Magnus, composed the score for the film and the creative impulse appears to have been passed down to Fiennes's three-year-old son, Horace, who has already developed a taste for jazz. |
| Working with Žižek has changed the way Fiennes watches films for pleasure but, she admits, "at the moment, I'm just watching musicals with my son like High Society and Oklahoma!." | Working with Žižek has changed the way Fiennes watches films for pleasure but, she admits, "at the moment, I'm just watching musicals with my son like High Society and Oklahoma!." |
| The Pervert's Guide to Musicals – now that's something I'd love to see. | The Pervert's Guide to Musicals – now that's something I'd love to see. |
| facebook.com/GuideToIdeologyFilm | facebook.com/GuideToIdeologyFilm |
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