55 minutes / Color
English; French / English subtitles
Release: 2017
Copyright: 2016
Philosopher, Marxist, professor, murderer. More than a quarter century after his death, Louis Althusser, one of the most influential leftist thinkers of the 20th century, remains an enigmatic figure: a man whose work rejuvenated Marxist theory through books such as For Marx and Reading Capital, a Communist who strove to create a new framework following the revelations of Stalinist terror... and a victim of mental illness who, in his darkest moment, strangled his wife of more than 30 years.
ALTHUSSER, AN INTELLECTUAL ADVENTURE traces the development of Althusser's thought, which influenced a who's who of French philosophers, including Lacan, Foucault, Derrida, and Barthes. Credited with reinterpreting Marx in a way that encouraged readers to engage directly with his work, Althusser brought the Freudian concept of overdetermination to Marxist theory, and argued that Marx's work should not be read as one consistent whole, because there was a clear 'break' between his earlier and later writings. But Althusser's most enduring contribution may be the concept of ideological state apparatuses: institutions and social structures including schools, churches, and families, that serve to reinforce the capitalist state.
The film also delves into Althusser's little-understood struggles with the mental illness that would see him hospitalized numerous times throughout his life. As Yves Duroux says, in order to understand the man, one must look not only at his philosophy and relationship with the Communist Party, but to "his own madness" which in some ways linked the two.
ALTHUSSER, AN INTELLECTUAL ADVENTURE captures the man, and the implications of his work, in interviews with friends and colleagues such as Lucien Seve, who served more than 30 years on the central committee of the Communist Party of France, and with philosophers and former students including Etienne Balibar, Pierre Macherey, and Jacques Ranciere.
"Remarkable… Books, history, philosophy, personal life, mental illness, positions and influences… Nothing is forgotten in this portrait."—Telerama
"It's a rare thing that television dedicates a documentary to a philosopher. It is even rarer that TV produces a documentary dedicated to a Marxist philosopher ... ALTHUSSER is, in fact, less of a documentary on Althusser than it is a radiography of the "Althusser effect."—Article Regard
"Fascinating portrait of a Marxist philosopher who, before succumbing to mental illness, developed a vision that is now being revisited by those who challenge capitalism."—Philippe Sollers
"A remarkable film that paints in sharp brush strokes ... the intellectual journey of philosopher Louis Althusser."—France Inter (Radio)
"Magnificent... reanimates the Althusserian adventure for the contemporary struggle against injustice and inequality." —Nick Nesbitt, Professor of Francophone Studies and Political Philosophy at Princeton University, Author of The Concept in Crisis: Reading Capital
Select Accolades
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