7 hours. That a film could last this long says something in itself, irregardless of the content. Why make a film this long? It defies common sense. It defies the cinemas. It defies consumerism. It defies Hollywood. But does it defy an audience?

Béla Tarr is easily one of the most important filmmakers in the world today, and Sátántango is one of his most challenging works. The story itself is ambiguous. On one hand, it involves the demise of Communism. On the other, the arrival of a stranger offering – so the people believe – the promise of salvation. But this is no allegory. If you have seen any of Tarr’s other film’s, for instance Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) shown as part of Trauma’s Long Take season, you’ll know to expect immaculate cinematography, beautiful compositions, intriguing dialogue and fascinating characters. You’ll also know to expect a restrained montage and fluid camera movements. With Sátántango you get all this and more… for 7 hours…

7 hours. Too long? This is relatively short compared with Zhang Sichuan’s The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple running 27 hours in total (it was released in 18 feature-length parts between 1928 and 1931). Or The Cure for Insomnia, directed by John Henry Timmis IV, running at 87 hours (this film consists of artist L. D. Groban reading his lengthy poem "A Cure for Insomnia" over the course of three and a half days, spliced with occasional clips from heavy metal and pornographic videos). Indeed, in the list of the worlds longest films, Sátántango is 18th… (see the others here). No doubt, this will not be the last all-day-Trauma…

What if you could watch Socrates, on film, rehearsing his Socratic dialogues? What if there was footage of Descartes, Thoreau, or Shakespeare as themselves at work and in their daily life? Might we now look at these figures differently, with perhaps a deeper understanding of their work and lives?”

As a guide to critical theory this season is a screening of theory documentaries from the Jacques Lacan’s 1974 television appearance to Zizek’s 2006 documentary Zizek! that follows him across the globe giving a “compelling portrait of an intellectual maverick”. Each documentary will be accompanied with a short introduction to theory given by academics and guest speakers in the field. This season is an attempt at a “beginners guide to critical theory” (a possible alternative title), featuring the works of Lacan, Zizek and Derrida.



Zizek once said “In order to understand today’s world, we need cinema; literally. It’s only in cinema that we get that crucial dimension which we are not yet ready to confront in our reality. If you are looking for what is, in reality, more real than reality itself, look into cinematic fiction.” In this 3 part television series Zizek explains the psychoanalytical approach to filmic theory in a very filmic style, superimposed on film clips and re-enacting famous scenes from movie history this series is a brilliant beginners guide to Zizek’s approach to film.

Introduced by Tony Brown, Head of Research, Manchester Metropolitan University I.O.E.,
Member of the editorial board for the International Journal of Zizek Studies.

What if you could watch Socrates, on film, rehearsing his Socratic dialogues? What if there was footage of Descartes, Thoreau, or Shakespeare as themselves at work and in their daily life? Might we now look at these figures differently, with perhaps a deeper understanding of their work and lives?”

As a guide to critical theory this season is a screening of Theory Documentaries from the Jacques Lacan’s 1974 television appearance to Zizek’s 2006 documentary Zizek! that follows him across the globe giving a “compelling portrait of an intellectual maverick”. Each documentary will be accompanied with a short introduction to theory given by academics and guest speakers in the field. This season is an attempt at a “beginners guide to critical theory” (a possible alternative title), featuring the works of Lacan, Zizek and Derrida.

Described as the 'Elvis of Theory' Slavoj Zizek is a Slovenian-born political philosopher and cultural critic. He was described by Terry Eagleton as the “most formidably brilliant” recent theorist to have emerged from Continental Europe. Zizek’s work is infamously idiosyncratic. A brilliant personal portrait of a controversial and brilliant mind…

Introduced by Robert Lapsley, author of Film Theory: an Introduction

What if you could watch Socrates, on film, rehearsing his Socratic dialogues? What if there was footage of Descartes, Thoreau, or Shakespeare as themselves at work and in their daily life? Might we now look at these figures differently, with perhaps a deeper understanding of their work and lives?”

As a guide to critical theory this season is a screening of Theory Documentaries from the Jacques Lacan’s 1974 television appearance to Zizek’s 2006 documentary Zizek! that follows him across the globe giving a “compelling portrait of an intellectual maverick”. Each Documentary will be accompanied with a short introduction to theory given by academics and guest speakers in the field. This season is an attempt at a “beginners guide to critical theory” (a possible alternative title), featuring the works of Lacan, Zizek and Derrida.

It has been said that in this film Kirby Dick and Ziering Kofman played Plato to our own modern day Socrates. The filmmaking team shadowed the renowned philosopher, best known for "deconstruction," and captured intimate footage of the man as he lives and works in his daily life. They filmed Derrida on his first trip to South Africa, where -- after visiting President Mandela's former prison cell -- he delivers a lecture on forgiveness to students at the University of the Western Cape. The filmmakers travel with him from his home in Paris to New York City, where he discusses the role of biographers, and the challenges that are faced when one attempts to bridge the abyssal gulf between a historic figure's work and life. They capture Derrida in private moments, musing reluctantly, about fidelity and marriage, narcissism and celebrity, and the importance of thinking philosophically about love.

Film introduced by ERI PhD student John Rowe - "The Ethics of the Gift in Contemporary Politics: Derrida and Buddhist Philosophy"

“What if you could watch Socrates, on film, rehearsing his Socratic dialogues? What if there was footage of Descartes, Thoreau, or Shakespeare as themselves at work and in their daily life? Might we now look at these figures differently, with perhaps a deeper understanding of their work and lives?”

As a guide to critical theory this season is a screening of Theory Documentaries from the Jacques Lacan’s 1974 television appearance to Zizek’s 2006 documentary Zizek! that follows him across the globe giving a “compelling portrait of an intellectual maverick”. Each documentary will be accompanied with a short introduction to theory given by academics and guest speakers in the field. This season is an attempt at a “beginners guide to critical theory” (a possible alternative title), featuring the works of Lacan, Zizek and Derrida.

Lacan: Télévision – Going under different names (Television, Psychoanalysis I &II), this film has survived as the only document of Lacan on film, the only record of the once-notorious lecture style that the analyst showcased at his infamous seminars in Paris during the late '60s to early '70s. Organized by October magazine and the French psychoanalytic journal Ornicar?, and took place at Cooper Union, an art school in lower Manhattan.

Introduced by Kate McGowan course leader of the Critical Theory MA at Manchester Metropolitan University.