AFS Documentary Tour: Examined Life

It’s easy to feel stuck at a movie standstill right now. Oscar favorites have been dominating the theater marquees for weeks and, though we now have the full list of possible gems that will be coming our way for SXSW, we still have to wait a whole month before the beautiful madness descends.

Wednesday night’s Austin Film Society documentary offering should do the trick in kicking lethargy to the curb, however, as Astra Taylor's Examined Life makes use of a few brilliant minds in order to tackle the biggest questions of modern existence. From the ethics of consumerism to the similarities between jazz and philosophy, this film boldly ventures into an intelligent realm where mall cops and shopping divas dare not tread.

Taylor previously directed a doc called Žižek! (about the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek) and her writing has appeared in Salon, Adbusters and The Nation. For this latest project, she has chosen a few contemporary philosophers (Peter Singer, Cornel West and several others) and then pushed them out into the streets for a series of thought-provoking, visually entertaining, multi-dimensional conversations.

These talking/walking heads use Socrates' famous assertion that “the unexamined life is not worth living” as a starting point for discussion and then wander from there. Ideologically they cover topics like evil, garbage, compassion and otherness while physically they ride in taxis, pace Fifth Avenue and stroll through San Francisco.

Fans of Richard Linklater's Waking Life will likely enjoy this foray into loftiness and meta-examination, and the sharp-eyed observer will probably wonder, "Why do so many passionate truth-seekers have crazy hair?" Many questions will be raised during this film and none may be definitively answered, but one thing's for sure - unlike the effect some recent flicks have had, you won't leave feeling dumber than when you arrived.