September 9, 1997

L'Abécédaire de Gilles Deleuze (1997) ***

An 8-hour long interview with a famous French philosopher would hardly seem like a material for an entertaining and riveting film. Unless, of course, that philosopher happens to be Gilles Deleuze, a brilliant, fascinating, witty, charismatic, warm and extraordinarily intelligent man, who always refused interviews and never appeared on any TV programs. He only agreed to make this film on the condition that it wouldn't be released before his death. Wheather analyzing Plato and Spinoza, or heaping abuse on dogs, physicians and academic conferences, Deleuze never fails to astound and entertain. The result is a fascinating portrait of one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. It's arranged thematically from A (Animal) to Z (Zigzag) and covers such topics as F (Fidelity), G (Gauche), M (Maladie) and N (Neurology).