Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life

If you look closely during the crowd shots in Cecil B. DeMille's 1927 silent epic The King of Kings, you might see the face of a young Russian émigré named Alice Rosenbaum. Alice would go on to become one of the most influential novelists and thinkers of the 20th century under her "stage" name: Ayn Rand. Narrated by Sharon Gless, writer-director Michael Paxton's Oscar-nominated bio-pic is an absorbing chronicle of an altogether fascinating woman, from her early years in St. Petersburg under Lenin's collectivist regime, through her struggles in the '30s as a junior scriptwriter in Hollywood, to her passionate espousal of "objectivism" (Rand's personal philosophical system singing the praises of enlightened self-interest in a best-of-all-worlds capitalist society) in such bestselling novels as The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Combining archival film clips, stills, and interviews with friends/devotees such as Leonard Peikoff, Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life is, at all times, a sympathetic portrait, with nary a whiff of opposing viewpoints (and there are numerous critics of Rand's philosophy of unrestricted laissez-faire capitalism, not to mention her somewhat fascistic ideas about art). Still, if the video is a bit guilty of whitewashing its controversial subject, there can be no gainsaying the fact that Rand's psychological make-up is fascinating: a piercingly intelligent thinker who rejected out of hand any form of religion or mysticism, she also was a somewhat misty-eyed romantic whose adulation of the strong male bordered on hero-worship. Highly recommended. [Note: for a more in-depth look at Rand's philosophy, see Ideas in Action, Vol. 1, No. 1 (VL-3/96).] Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray Review—July 28, 2015—Strand, 2 discs, 143 min., not rated, $32.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1997's Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life features a nice transfer and a DTS-HD 2.0 soundtrack. Extras include bonus interviews (63 min.), the complete filmed version of scenes from Rand's play Ideal (55 min.), text cast and crew bios, and a photo gallery. Bottom line: this excellent Oscar-nominated documentary makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]