The Passion of Ayn Rand
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Movie Reviews of The Passion of Ayn Rand
Movie Review: The Passionate Individualist
Summary: 5 Stars
While I have been an Ayn Rand fan for a short time and have not read Barbara Branden's book, this was one of the first movies about Ayn Rand I picked up. The chemistry between the actors and the charachters they play is excellent and all of the actors, especially Hellen Mirren, are very good in their roles. The script is good and so are the sets and production.
Hellen Mirren won an Emmy for her portayal of Rand and, after seeing this film, one can see why she did. Mirren's portayal of Ayn Rand is superb!
After watching this film, I came away admiring Rand even more. Rand was a wonderful human being, brilliant philosopher, excellent author and passionate about individuals to be free to pursue their own interests. It is understandable for her to be the way she was and believe in the things she did because she grew up in one of the most repressive, collectivist societies in world history: The Soviet Union.
Rand made it a point to live her life according to the individualist values she espoused. Same with Nathaniel and Barbara Branden. Thats why they congregated with each other to constantly formulate, practice and discuss Rand's philosophy, Objectivism. However, despite her enemy's crowing, in no way should this movie be considered a 'smear job'.
Essentially, what this movie is about is 2 individuals who end up falling in love (despite the fact they are both married), having sexual relations with the consent of their spouses, form and cultivate a philisophical movement and then it all collapses in the end.
Having extra-marital relations, even when the spouse knows about it, is destructive to everyone involved. In my view, Rand and Nathaniel Branden did not err when they did what they did since they did not hide their love for each other. Their mistake was that they both did not consider the long-term consequences of their actions nor the true feelings of their spouses.
I also appreciated the fact that Nathaniel Branden, whom I met at a conference briefly in 2003 and is a very nice man, owned up to his responsibilties in the matter as well and am glad that in later years, Barbara Branden and Ayn Rand reconciled. However, it is unfortunate that, like Barbara and Ayn, Nathaniel Branden and Ayn Rand did not forgive and forget.
This move is not an example of how dogmatic Rand allegedly was. Rather, it must serve as an example of what happens when people pursue sexual relations even while they are still married.
Otherwise, despite the negative reviews, this is a very good film and worth checking out. Its a keeper in my DVD library.
Movie Review: The other side of Objectivism
Summary: 5 Stars
Having read "The Fountainhead", "Atlas Shrugged" and "Anthem", I found Ayn Rand's ideas (which can basically be summed up as selfishness is good) to be of interest, but I always wondered about how they would work outside the artificial environment of fiction. "The Passion of Ayn Rand" answered this question for me. Through this film it is possible to see the consequences of living a life following the principles set out by Rand, and watching it confirmed my suspicions that Objectivism (Rand's philosophy) is not all its cracked up to be.
"The Passion of Ayn Rand" is a bio-pic about the life of Russian-American author, Ayn Rand (Helen Mirren), focussing on her relationship with Nathaniel (Eric Stoltz) and Barbara Branden (Julie Delpy). Although both were married, Nathaniel Branden and Rand had an affair that went on for 14 years. During the affair, Rand named Nathaniel Branden as her "intellectual heir", but this changed when the affair ended under acrimonious circumstances.
This is a very well made film with excellent actors in all parts. Each of the actors manages to inhabit his or her part to the point where, by the end of the film, I genuinely felt that I was watching the real historical figures, rather than just actors. I believe that this film was made for cable television (it was made by Showtime Entertainment), but it of a level of quality equivalent to that of a cinema release movie.
Movie Review: excellent movie
Summary: 5 Stars
I watched this movie a couple of years ago and I was stunned by the quality of the acting. The characters are so lively and faithfully portrayed, they are almost being resurrected. The director's detached attitude towards them is a very seldom appearance in today's movies industry. Instead of being ideologically-driven cardboard figures, they are shown as real persons driven by an internal struggle for power which gives them unmatched reality.
I personally imagine this movie's director as a intelligent person. To look upon both Rand's mass-production "individualism" and hers communist detractors' heavy-handed "arguments" WITH EQUAL HUMOR is something quite admirable. In addition, he has the inspired choice to rely much more on personal battles between the characters rather than those based upon their shallow so-called "philosophies". Communists and objectivists are two sides of same worthless coin, both being about as philosophical as the average dog.
It's easy to see why this movie is disliked both by objectivists and communists. The former see this as a sacrilege against the immaculate nature of their "hero". The latter see this movie as unacceptably deviationist, failing to be transformed into a cheap slogan where all the good characters are communists, while the bad ones are "fascists" (whatever that means).
Movie Review: 20 years after her death? Makes you wonder....
Summary: 5 Stars
I LOVED this lite flick, but ... I rented it... What was so amazing about it was that, 20 years after her death, a whole new generation of kids with cams would be so lathered up over something she must have written that they would yet be compelled to slap out something like this to try and keep her in the ground! Inquiring minds should ask themselves; what DID she ever write that still has folks of a certain bent so intent on safely, if futily, beating her corpse, 20 years after her death? Fortunately, ...most of her works available in paperback, and inquiring minds can easily find out. That is, if they don't just pop in this DVD, take the 2 hour Hollywood hatchet job as all they need to know about this woman, and consider themselves informed. But, if they do...well, God bless their popcorn fed SurroundSound little minds and good luck to them. But, I loved this flick, because it reminded me to refresh my library, which was easy and [AFFORDABLE]. My sister saved my life in '69, when I was 14, simply by throwing a copy of AS at me and saying, "Read this." Over the years, I keep handing out copies to folks, and that part of the library ebbs and flows. Now, my son is about 13, and it's about time for his innoculation against the beekeepers waiting for him at college. ...Movie Review: the passion for power
Summary: 5 Stars
I thought the film was brilliant. I watched it a while ago, before the current resurgence of interest in Ayn Rand's ideas ( or prejudices). Having read Rand many years ago in my college days, and having a more recent interest in Nathaniel Brandon's work - from the point of view of psychology rather than ideology, and having matured considerably since those college days, I found the film particularly insightful. Yes, it has a large component of the affairs and sexual manipulation, but that is crucial to understanding her. She was a manipulator, brilliant and with considerable karisma, attractive on many levels, but rather psychopathic like many other manipulators and people in power. I saw the film more as a portrayal of that element - the psychological manipulation of others - for money, for power, for sex - for ego. There are many such people, and I have known a few. I know how easy it is for those who are unsure of their own identity and self to get caught up in their webs. Helen Mirren, of course is a brilliant actress and the script, the acting, the direction - all are very good. I highly recommend watching it, especially now that Rand's works are having somewhat a resurgence among the American far-right.