About

'Ideology is a major theme in Žižek's body of work. His roots in psychoanalytic thinking produce a new understanding of how our world is structured. Through the examples we use — which range between movies, music, history and current events — ideology emerges as an ever-shifting fantasy frame shaping all societies.' Sophie Fiennes

In this entertaining study of cinema and philosophy, Slovenian dialectical-materialist philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj Žižek goes inside some truly epochal movies to explore and expose how they reinforce prevailing ideologies. As the ideology that undergirds our cinematic fantasies is revealed, striking associations emerge: What hidden Catholic teachings lurk at the heart of The Sound of Music? What are the fascist political dimensions of Jaws? Taxi Driver, Zabriskie Point, The Searchers, The Dark Knight, John Carpenter's They Live, Titanic, Kinder Eggs, verité news footage, Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and propaganda epics from Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia all inform Žižek's stimulating, provocative and often hilarious psychoanalytic-cinematic rant.

MA15+ | Strong violence and coarse language