Being in the World

Let me begin by saying that a film on the philosophy of Martin Heidegger is an incredibly difficult task to undertake. Teaching a class on the subject is difficult enough, trying to make an engaging, thoughtful and approachable film on the subject? Forget about it.

The biggest compliment I can pay this film is to say that it is an excellent movie in and of itself - without referencing Heidegger, without knowing anything about philosophy, the movie stands on its own. The subject matter is presented in a wonderfully engaging and approachable format - a great success if one considers that the inspiration is one of the most cryptic and unreadable philosophers in history: Martin Heidegger.

Being in the World takes us into the experience of what it is to be a craftsman and a master of a skill and reveals to us a more genuine reality about the way we engage with the world, each other and the tools we use to cope with the world. It addresses pressing issues in artificial intelligence, psychology and being in the world as we know it while stripping our modes of perception and prejudice down to reveal a more genuine form existence. This process takes place by example rather than tedious lecture or awkward narrative; expressed through the artists, craftsmen, musicians in the film.

A final testament to the film is from a less biased source: my girlfriend. This kind person has tolerated every form of philosophical banality and esoteric reading assignments which have been pushed upon her probably from the first day we met. Her interest as well as comprehension of these topics has always been minimal despite my best efforts and the unavoidable fact that I claim to make my living around those principles. This film allowed us to bond as it provided a common language to take my philosophical and conceptual understanding of the ideas with her previous experience as a professional musician and give us, for the first time that I can remember, a platform off of which to dive into meaningful and thoughtful philosophical (namely Heideggarian) discussion. For this I would like to genuinely thank the film maker and the participants who made this project possible.

My one uneasy point about the film is how intuitively on-the-ball all of the masters were in their interpretation of their skills as highly Heideggarian (rather than Cartesian & conscious/mindful). The reality is that many people do not understand how they do their skillful crafts and often they take on a common description of their actions that may be contrary to the reality - example: a piano player might think of himself as a highly skilled computer who functions more efficiently than less skilled pianists. In Being in the World, all the masters seemed to be on the same page, which makes me wonder if they were filtered or primed. Though in all honesty, this does not take away from the content of the film and is curious only as an observation of how rare it is for people to be in tune with how they are actually performing their skills.

"Being in the World" is a film that educates one through both the senses and the intellect and, by its end, it provides a powerful but gentle reminder that we, the individuals, must take back our rightful place at the center of philosophy and we do so everyday simply by being in the world. Instead of a narrative or a series of long lectures, we are taken on a ride to visit various practitioners of the arts— primarily musicians—who simply "do" their art. These vignettes are juxtaposed with a series of philosophers, most of whom seem connected in terms of their ideas and interpretations of the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, who talk about the idea of "being in the world." I found this back-and-forth composition created a certain fluidity thanks to the way the information delivered both tickled my senses and intellect in equal measure. By the end, the aforementioned message slowly sank in and that is what created what is now a genuine appreciation for having viewed the film because I look at my life experience differently.

First of all, this work does not require any special education or training to be understood and enjoyed, although I don't think many would argue that the subject matter alone would unfortunately dissuade many simply because that is the nature of society but the fact that the average citizen is not interested in philosophy, or course, is no fault of the film. Ironically, the very message that one doesn't need to be steeped in philosophy to undertake and enjoy a life rife with meaning is one of the primary themes of the film. This theme might be summed up by stating that by simply "being in the world," we surpass all of the formalized activities associated with what engaging in "philosophy" has come to mean in the modern western world.

Although we're never hit over the head with it, it is the German philosopher Martin Heidegger who stands firmly at the center of the film as it is his iconoclastic work which inspires the ideas that undergird the messages of the various speakers. The fact that Heidegger's work is infamous for being difficult to approach even for the initiated student of philosophy is what makes this film such a gem; the more I think about the film the wider I grin because I can see more clearly how what I initially mistook for an aesthetically pleasing ride with a dose of didacticism ended up being a "reeducation" regarding how important simply "being in the world" and performing our "art" (which I take to mean profession, hobbies, etc.) is in terms of understanding where philosophy has taken us collectively.

"Being in the World" is a small film. Although the film is beautifully composed and we move around the globe, it is obvious that this was accomplished with a comparatively small budget and for me this only adds to the sense of intimacy and trust the work exudes; this is a labor of love, an authentic work of art, and it was created in order to share a message far removed from the commercial world.

It was the feeling with which I was left, however, that sets this movie apart from other, similar films. Walking away from this I felt encouraged and valued by the filmmaker and the "players." Rather than some stale exposition or preachy sermon about why I should change my mind about my life based on some epistemological tendency, I was reminded that my being in the world is what constitutes my life's meaning.

Being in the World is an extremely thought provoking and inspiring documentary. Tao Ruspoli has done a wonderful job of making philosophy interesting and relevant. The inspiration for the film, Hubert Dreyfus, is a truly intriguing master of his own domain of teaching. All the professors and 'masters' interviewed are dynamic and riveting in their own right. The 'masters' feature a wide array of people, from a soul food chef to a Japanese carpenter, and each boast a different world view. This film is sure to be a conversation starter, with it's provocative view on technology's role in our world. Even so, the film does not come off as preachy and manages to make room for a wide range of ideas and beliefs.Being in the World gives us a little hope for a world that is increasingly technology driven.