The Fright of Real Tears

Source

Žižek, S. (2001) The Fright of Real Tears: Krzysztof Kieslowski between Theory and Post-theory, London and Bloomington: British Film Institute and Indiana University Press.

Review by Tony Myers

This book is an intervention in the on-going debate in the field of film studies which is split between Theory (anything loosely affiliated with structuralism and post-structuralism) and Post-Theory (anything loosely affiliated with a dislike of structuralism and post-structuralism). The main cause of antipathy for the Post-Theorists was the dominance of certain Lacanian concepts in the field of film studies. Žižek's argu- ment here, via a reading of Krzysztof Kieslowski's films, is that these Lacanian concepts were employed piecemeal without either due regard for their philosophical matrix or for their implications. This book finds Žižek at his most robust and methodical, as he debunks the lamentable conclusions of Post-Theory, as well as at his most patient, as he explains the workings and value of Lacan's insights.