Sociology is a Martial Art
France • 2h 20m
Directed by Pierre Carles • Documentary • With Pierre Bourdieu • 2001 • 146 minutes
SOCIOLOGY IS A MARTIAL ART, a documentary about Pierre Bourdieu's life, became an unexpected hit in France just prior to his death. Filmed over three years, director Pierre Carles' camera follows Bourdieu as he lectures, attends political rallies, travels, meets with his students, staff, and research team in Paris, and includes Bourdieu having a conversation with Gunter Grass.
The film's very title stresses the degree of Bourdieu's political engagement. He took on the mantle of Emile Zola and Jean-Paul Sartre in French public life, slugging it out with politicians because he considered those lucky enough to have spent their lives studying the social world could not be indifferent to the struggle for justice.
"Tour de force... If you are interested in European social movements, the practice of sociology, a strong critique of neoliberalism and the sources of structural inequalities, then this documentary is for you."—Film & History
Up Next in France
-
The Assistant
Directed by Christophe Ali & Nicolas Bonilauri • Drama • With Nathalie Baye, Malik Zidi, Jean-Stan Du Pac • 2018 • 87 minutes
With his wife in labor, father-to-be Thomas (Malik Zidi) speeds to the hospital and, in the process, accidentally kills a young man on the road. The death sets into m...
-
In Her Name
Directed by Vincent Garenq • Drama • With Daniel Auteuil • 2015 • 87 minutes
A gripping and emotional legal drama based on a true story that moved France for three decades. Starring Daniel Auteuil (Jean De Florette) and Sebastian Koch (Homeland, The Life of Others).
In 1982, André Bamberski (Da...
-
This Is Our Land
Directed by Lucas Belvaux • Drama • With Émilie Dequenne, André Dussollier, Guillaume Gouix • 2018 • 114 minutes
Marine Le Pen was defeated in the French election that brought Emmanuel Macron to power, but her far right-wing party, with its nationalist, anti-immigrant platform, lives on to feed...