AYN RAND: A SENSE OF LIFE
Reviewed by Harvey Karten, Ph.D. Strand Releasing Director: Michael Paxton Writer: Michael Paxton Cast: Sharon Gless (narrator)
Detractors of Ayn Rand--and there are many--say that the antidote to her allegedly malign ideals is her accent. Just listen to the heavy Russian overlay in the woman's speech and you'll intuit she's more than a tough cookie, but in reality a heavily armored person impervious to human sentiment. Is that what her philosophy, called "objectivism," is all about? After all, she admits several times during this long, well-edited documentary, that selfishness is the highest good! But to judge this philosophy by sound bites is to misunderstand her view of the world. To gain more than a bumper-sticker impression of the woman, you'd want to read a few of her novels, particularly her seminal work "Atlas Shrugged." The motion picture "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Self" which is directed, written and produced by Michael Paxton is an introduction, which will serve its purpose if it motivates the viewers to dip into her long works of fiction.
"Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life," is not unusual for its genre. It displays clips of interviews the author gave to such luminaries as Mike Wallace and Phil Donohue; some old black-and-white footage of scenes in Russia, New York and Chicago; actual clips from silent films and old talkies such as "Orphans of the Storm," "The Beggar Student," "Canadian Capers" "The Fountainhead" and "King of Kings;" some filmed moments of Ayn Rand in the company of Cecil B. DeMille, who had hired her as an extra not long after her arrival from Russia; and commentary from scholars who knew her work well, such as Harry Binswanger, Daniel E. Greene, Leonard Peikoff and John Ridpath; and some animation, particularly of railroad cars. In that sense it follows the path worn well by documentaries in general.
While considerable time has obviously been spent in organizing the material, little is particularly original or groundbreaking in the structure of this documentary. It follows a chronological organization, beginning with the subject's birth in 1905 in St. Petersburg, her voyage to America on a six- months' visa (which she parlayed into American citizenship courtesy of her marriage to actor Frank O'Connor), her meeting with DeMille, which provided her with the funds needed to survive, and her 1936 Broadway success "Night of January 16th," which enabled her to give up her days jobs and devote her time to writing.
If we were to try to sum up the main theme of this film in one word, nay just one letter, it would be the letter "I." Rand, who was born Alyssa Rosenbaum, despised collectivism, which she defines as the replacement of "I" with "we." To sacrifice one's self for the good of the state is anathema. The human being exists for his own happiness, and not for the pleasure of others. As an example, she cites the reality that I do not marry out of guilt feelings for another or to make a mate happy: I marry because I feel this partner can make ME happy. If my partner can make me happy, I will value him or her more than I would value my neighbor, and would gladly make sacrifices forthe good of my significant other, because such tribute would give ME a great sense of self-esteem and thus make me happier.
In a film of this length, Mr. Paxton would have done better to spend more time with Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey and Kent Smith. who portrayed characters from her principal movie. Perhaps a fifteen-minute interlude from King Vidor's 1949 film "The Fountainhead" would give the audience more insight into her world-view, that film centering on an idealistic architect's clash with the compromises of big business. This movie is only marginally successful in grappling with her ideas and the controversy that emanated from their circulation. We're all too likely to leave the theater with oversimplified views such as "I don't go for that woman: she's selfish" or "What's the big deal? You can't compare her simple convictions with those of Kierkegaard or Sorenson."
Still, "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life," is likely to whet the thirst of the curious in the audience to pick up "Atlas Shrugged," which still sells 100,000 copies annually, and to wade through the eight-hundred odd pages if for no other reason than to find out who is John Galt. Not Rated. Running time: 141 minutes. (C) Harvey Karten 1998
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