Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?

2013 "An Animated Conversation with Noam Chomsky"
7.1| 1h28m| en| More Info
Released: 22 November 2013 Released
Producted By: Partizan Films
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

A series of interviews featuring linguist, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky done in hand-drawn animation.

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Reviews

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
ShangLuda Admirable film.
Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.
Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
Akshay Lakhi Gondry, by posing as a layman and genuinely trying to understand, asks the most basic questions which Chomsky goes on to address fundamental issues in philosophy and the foundations of modern science. The animations and illustrations merging with the voice of Chomsky in the background makes the loaded philosophical and scientific content accessible to the viewer. References from classical science to Galileo and Newton drive home the essence of science, a true endeavor to move from a description to an explanation about the world. Gondry's honest admissions of losing Chomsky's line of thought, further help in bringing the viewer on to the same page.The film's frank rendition of Chomsky's personal life and academic journey sets the context for the viewer to understand the 'greatest academic alive,' thus making the film more humane and relatable.PS: do watch the film with subtitles; because their accents make it difficult to follow their speech.
Pasky Even when they are full of ideas, some filmmakers can be sometimes a bit 'stingy' when they try to film great thinkers. What happens when an image inventor confronts a creator of concepts? There can be many misunderstandings (maybe due to the language barrier?) and theaters can remain painfully empty. Not long ago, in 'Film Socialism', Jean-Luc Godard filmed Alain Badiou talking in front of an empty theater.It seems that Michel Gondry accepts with great pleasure the emptiness that can sometimes separate images and philosophy on the screen. His film plays with the principle of 'illustration': this funny documentary is made of (often) naive drawings, coming from the discussion between the two men.The viewer will not leave the theater with a manual on 'generative grammar' of the American linguist, MIT star. Instead he will be struck, blown away by the creative explosion of a free filmmaker, an inventor renewing at a rate of a thousand digressions and associations of ideas, with its memorial vein and dream, like in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep (his most romantic period). No wonder that the film is secretly haunted by Chomsky's absolute love for his late wife, Carol. Nonetheless, I found this 'little film' immensely refreshing.
rzajac This is a fantastic, intelligent wedding of word and image. It's like a genuine synthesthetic experience, like the animator wanted us to have a cogent, dependable hallucination of Chomsky's brilliant, eloquent statements. From time to time I would sort of "forget" whether I was hearing Chomsky or seeing what he was saying; they sometimes switched places... or (perhaps more accurately) truly merged in my mind, like finally having the image of one of those 3D "art" images pop out at you when your eyes finally settle into the correct parallax and focus mix. I found that when I was relaxed and letting the flow of ideation wash over me, my experience was "of a piece"; almost psychedelically.What can I say? It's just a lovely way to mainline a genius' thinking; the filmmaker succeeds in his quest to enhance and tease out the intuitive aspects to technical/scientific thinking; and that's downright inspirational!Check it out.--------AddendumJust want to add one more point. As much as I find Chomsky's politics to be vital and morally attuned, it STILL strikes me as a great artistic decision on the part of Gondry to 1) minimize the politics, 2) put them off 'til (largely) the end, and 3) subsume them to the task of conveying warmth (not urgency). You get a measured, requisite dose of Chomsky's politics, *without* the overwhelming sense one often gets with Chomsky that, up against so much troglodytic inertia, the task truly daunts. Bravo.
jlevine5 While Mr. Gondry's accent took a little getting used to, the effort was well worth it. I applaud Mr. Gondry's creativity in presenting Chomsky's ideas about science and philosophy and the doggedness he exhibited in certain instances in delving into the meaning of Chomsky's notions about how we learn and think. The use of animation transformed what for some may have been a droll lecture into a lively and interesting narrative about philosophy, religion, and of course linguistics. I also applaud Gondry's decision not to focus on Chomsky's radical and divisive political views, which would have only detracted from his views about philosophy, science, linguistics and religion. I recommend the film to anyone who is interested in learning about the type of mind-set necessary to think clearly and originally and to make sense of how the world works.