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The deviant of the title is the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, who argues that cinema is the “ultimate pervert’s art” because it “doesn’t give you what you desire – it tells you how to desire.” Providing Zizek with the opportunity to dissect the work of his favourite directors (Hitchcock, Lynch, Tarkovsky, Chaplin), this doc is no stuffy lecture. Director Sophie Fiennes ( Hoover Street Revival) shoots her narrator at the locations of his chosen films (Bodega Bay for The Birds, San Francisco Bay Bridge for Vertigo), or on replicas of the sets (Dorothy’s apartment in Blue Velvet, the hotel bathroom in The Conversation). Zizek is fascinated by our collective need for fantasy and why we continue to be emotionally affected by movies, even when we know they’re illusionary. We’ve seen the wizard behind the curtain, but our faith in cinema endures.
