Documentary: Derrida

The documentary begins with a male voice in French. This is the tone of Jacques Derrida, the French philosopher, father of deconstructionism, who opens the film by explaining his notion of “L’arriver”. As the sound projects the viewers, a handheld pan medium shot made from an automobile shoots the urban landscape of Paris including some Sienna scenes. These last shots of the river have a shallow depth of field. The overall introductory shot has no main object in focus, so the director lets the audience concentrate in the essence of the shot, the sound, what is being said, the words of the philosopher.

Then, there is a cut, and in the next shot Derrida appears in his house. This is a handheld track medium shot. He walks around his home, and then there is another cut. This pattern of tracking him in with a handheld medium shot is repeated all along the documentary. Within this “pursuing” of Jacques Derrida daily life movements, there are intervals with segments of lectures and interviews that he gave during the time the movie was created. For the lectures there is always a long shot done from a still handheld with a normal angle, zooming in and zooming out, as well as a profile medium shot done with a tripod (this doesn’t zoom in and zoom out). They constantly interchange these shots as Derrida speaks. For the interviews, there is always a medium shot done from a tripod with a high angle.