D'ailleurs, Derrida

This short, dense film tries to show us Derrida as man and philosopher. His philosophy made him one of the Twentieth century's pioneering thinkers who was disliked and reviled within his own philosophic community as much as he was respected. Revulsion is a place he knows because he is an Franco-Algerian Jew.

Using his philosophic tropes of sign, trace, mark, inclusion and exclusion, Derrida strives to make sense of his own circumcision and a broader circumcision that affects the body and/or mind in terms of wounds and scars. Wounds and scars are particular types of traces and marks that gather to themselves a desire for reconciliation, which is a meeting with an Other. They are also the family heritage and culture that is within us always. His fleshy circumcision is a psychic inheritance of being Jewish.

We follow him around his Algerian home, his Parisian flat, the lecture hall, the desert and by the sea. We hear about his mother's death, see him with cats and the sepulture he has created in his Algerian garden for the cats who die. We hear him muse on a painting (The Burial of Count Orgaz), talk about Lorca's 'Blood Wedding' and its connection to sexual repression. We meet his friend and colleague Jean-Luc Nancy, learn about Derrida's brief imprisonment and the friendship and respite from prison violence he found then. He drives, he has a piano and a print of Charlie Chaplin, he walks around museums with ancient artefacts and discusses the unconscious whilst the camera lingers on early instruments of operation, for circumcision. All of this current figure is in the context that he is old now and readying himself for death as he wonders if his view of his life and its meaning will be what he finds at the point of death.

With camera following him Derrida remarks that the film process is like writing a text; in the process of making a mark there is a movement of inclusion that excludes too. This process of exclusion is the very betrayal at the heart of writing; it is the price paid for using language, being able to make marks.

The film maker uses the environment to enhance Derrida. An attempt to lessen the exclusion although decisive choices are implicit. Derrida begins discussing sexual repression of women and we see an old tree whose trunk has been bifurcated and from which two thick branches that jut in different directions. Derrida discusses the fantasy of identity and we see him walking through well tended grounds reflected in a large, immaculate glass window. Derrida discusses secrecy and a large wooden door with metal detail appears on our screen. It is so subtle and so clever and a constant reminder of subject and context.

As to the film's title: "Elsewhere, even when near by, is always beyond a certain limit. But within yourself there is elsewhere … Elsewhere, here. If it were elsewhere, it wouldn't be an elsewhere." (Derrida) The illusion is of a me who is nowhere to be found, who is ever elsewhere. It is an affront to our Abrahamic discourse that believes identity is present when in fact we are absent the moment we make a trace or mark.

"What is tragic about existence …is that the meaning of what we are living … is only determined at the last moment … the moment of death".

Love him or loathe him, or fall betwixt, here was a man concerned most profoundly with the process of life. This film is worth more than one viewing to appreciate how the film maker portrays Derrida's abstractions. Trying to capture the thoughts in images. It is a folly of humankind to try and capture, to make present. It is a need that does not need us. It is desire and it is love. It was no surprise to learn that the film maker is an Egyptian poet.

As one of 20th century's greatest philosophers, Monsieur Jacques Derrida gives free rein to his thoughts to discuss the concepts of 'Ailleurs', 'Autobiography' 'Forgiveness', 'Hospitality' etc. The theme of meeting of minds is shown as his friend, French philosopher Jean Luc Nancy too shares some anecdotes in order to speak about their friendship. Jean Luc Nancy has known Derrida since 1969. He even sent a small essay to him even though they didn't know each other. He was surprised by the reply which he got from Derrida. Derrida had read some of Nancy's articles which were published before. He informed him that they would meet one of these days. Nancy upon reading Derrida's works was struck by a philosophy which was developing itself. The film "Derrida Elsewhere" begins with Derrida's confession that whatever there is about him could not proceed without a strange reference to "elsewhere". For Derrida, elsewhere is here. If elsewhere were elsewhere then it wouldn't be here. Writing for Derrida is an act through which he searches an identity. According to him, if we write an autobiography, it is because we are motivated by the desire and fantasy of meeting "I". Derrida establishes his link with colonialism as well as post colonialism by declaring himself as a product of these periods. He states that he belongs to a certain idea of French colonies. As far as religion is concerned, Derrida identifies himself as a Marrano (marrane en Français). It has become an obsession for him. The question of secret has always worried him. For him, a secret has to be respected which is the mission of a Marrano. He also talks about Christianity. We cannot escape Christianity as it is in the name of Christianity that we get rid of it. The "death of god" is a Christian theme. For Derrida, nothing is more Christian than that. The film shows Derrida's casual attitude in life with Derrida driving a car, standing in front of an aquarium or sitting opposite the sea. The quest of an "absolute secret" has become an obsession for him. There is something magical, a divine like quality in this great thinker that drives people to attend his lectures in large numbers. One of his lectures even has a special attendee in the form of Mrs. Derrida who sat in the front row. Derrida's lecture about "Forgiveness" in the form of a play involving four important characters Hegel, Mandela, Tutu and Clinton is an outstanding example of a very tough intellectual puzzle. How popular was Derrida can be judged by the fact that there is always full house to listen to his lectures ! Derrida and his ideas have global appeal as there are people from different countries as audiences of his lectures. Lastly, it would not be possible for any viewer to have a concrete idea about the meaning, message and significance of "D'Ailleurs Derrida" through a single viewing as some of Derrida's complex ideas would need to be understood in detail. Hence, it is advisable to watch "Derrida Elsewhere" more than once in order to fathom the complexities of this great philosopher's ideas.