Review of Hannah Arendt (2012) by Amilcar A — 20 Jul 2013

I still find it fascinating that movies about interesting subjects that are going to make no money get made. The film industry has become such a cutthroat world where every weekend you have to compete with 8 other options that I can't imagine who has the guts to make something like Hannah Arendt.

This is a movie for older, relatively well read people. The age average in the theater was about 100 and I can guarantee everyone had a college degree. Most of the moviegoers wouldn't know a movie like Grown Ups 2 even exists.

The subject of the film is not a biography of Hannah Arendt. It deals mostly with the aftermath of her articles published by the New Yorker after she covered Eichmann's trial in Jerusalem. This topic is surely to still create controversy and would make for either fabulous or terribly uncomfortable dinner conversations.

Arendt is a movie about a brilliant person with balls of steel and the confidence of a titan. It's also about a terribly arrogant, mostly self centered and detached person who has little room for empathy and compassion. At least none if it interferes with her analytic thought.

Clearly this is a movie that no more than 50 people will watch. I think Barbara Sukowa should be in the running for the Oscar if anyone remembers the movie was ever made. Overall this is an excellent film that will make you think and reflect. Good choice.