Most helpful customer reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
An Exceptional View of Ayn's Life, Oct 15 2002
Watching this exhaustive documentary (2:23) was a real eye opener for me. While I am conversant with her works, I was quite ignorant of the details of her life. The documentary follows Ayn from her oppressed Russian beginnings to (believe it or not) the pasteboard sets of 30s Hollywood to the intellectual circles of New York. The contrast are amazing and one can't but conclude that Any Rand lived a very fortunate life.The commentaries are not very insightful - but only due to the exceptionally detailed information narrated by Sharon Gless. Strangely enough, one of the more dramatic events of her career; her affair with Nathaniel Branden, is glossed of in less than 15 seconds. So I recommend seeing "The Passion of Ayn Rand" for more on that story. A word to the wise: if you buy both this DVD and "The Passion of Ayn Rand", I suggest watching this one first. It will give you a more complete understanding of her background.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
The Enigma of Ayn Rand, Jan 17 2004
While an undergraduate student in the 70's, I discovered the works of Ayn Rand. As a professor of humanities and philosophy I have used her works in classrooms, where students are introduced to the enigma of Rand's philosophy.
Rand was a better novelist than she ever was a philosopher and the contradictions in her philosophy become obvious upon semi-serious reflection.
Yet, this is not to detract from her absolute popularity even to the present day. The DVD "A Sense Of Life" is a wonderful glimpse into the life of one of the 20th century's great idealists. Though eliminating some critical elements of her life that genuinely contradicted her philosophical views, the film does a fair job of sharing the story of her life in the big picture.
In the absense of reading her works, the film will have less impact that it could. There is little real analysis of her works in the film and the glossing over does not do her justice.
But, in all fairness, the film is a biographical film, not a critique of her literature. And in the sense of a biographical film it is a fair and acurate protrayal.
Though many philosophers have disagreed with her work, (one of my undergraduate phil. profs once said of her work: "If I were ever going to use Ayn Rand's books in my class, it would be a class on 'Rabid Subjectivism'"...an opinion I strongly disagree with.
I respected Ayn Rand, both as a novelist and as a thinker who tried very hard to formulate her ideas in an age that downplayed reason and critical thinking...such that Bertrand Russell was refused a teaching position in New York because of his philosophical opinions. Even Russell had his philosophical difficulties.
The film captures important scenes from Rand's interviews, though I never understood why Phil Donahue would interview Ayn Rand, as I don't consider him a critical thinker at all...But that is what we are offered.
In conclusion, the film is well worth the money and time to watch it...you may even be inclined to actually read some of her books.
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A magnificent achievement!, Jan 10 2004
Although seeing AR:ASOL on the big screen at a pre-release conference in Chicago was better, this DVD is awesome. The story of Rand is enticing, even to those who do not like her. The story was extremely well-written and the selection and handling of material was well done. I was pleasantly surprised to see the variety of materials which had been assembled for this Academy Award nominated documentary.After meeting the director, Michael Paxton, in person, I can see why he achieved such a great film. He is as amazing a person as the film itself is on the screen. Sitting to watch this film over and over with friends and family is an excellent use of one's time-- and time which will be enjoyed. I highly recommend this DVD to be part of any serious movie collection. I have the framed, preserved, autographed movie poster for this DVD hanging in my office behind my desk as the focal point of the room-- that's how much I love this film.
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