This film depicts what I suspect Ayn Rand was really like in her personal life: bitter, angry, lacking in self-confidence and intensely concerned what people thought of her. This, of course, totally goes against what her philosophy and novels purport: objectivism.
But, since that philosophy is so anti-people, it is easy to understand why not even the person who formulated this outlandish theory -- nor her most ardent follower, Nathanial -- would be able to live up to it.
Near the end, Nathanial's wife, Barbara, contradicts Ayn by saying something like, "compassion: it's what humans do" to Ms. Rand. This, for me, neatly sums up what Ayn Rand's life was about: the antithesis of compassion.
Though the film itself is nothing spectacular in its acting, script, effects or direction, the message it puts forward is important. The message is that if a philosophy so much goes against what people feel to be correct (as objectivism does), it is quite probably unworkable and undesirable. To me, that was the most important theme in "The Passion of Ayn Rand."
My rating: 6
But, since that philosophy is so anti-people, it is easy to understand why not even the person who formulated this outlandish theory -- nor her most ardent follower, Nathanial -- would be able to live up to it.
Near the end, Nathanial's wife, Barbara, contradicts Ayn by saying something like, "compassion: it's what humans do" to Ms. Rand. This, for me, neatly sums up what Ayn Rand's life was about: the antithesis of compassion.
Though the film itself is nothing spectacular in its acting, script, effects or direction, the message it puts forward is important. The message is that if a philosophy so much goes against what people feel to be correct (as objectivism does), it is quite probably unworkable and undesirable. To me, that was the most important theme in "The Passion of Ayn Rand."
My rating: 6