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Rating: 
Summary: A Biography of an Immigrant and Heroine
Review: Ayn Rand is a very controversial figure, although her legacy was honored by her image on an American First Class Postage stamp. This video goes behind the heroic fiction she authored lacking a deep presentation of her philosophy of selfishness, what she later called, "Objectivism." It follows her life from modest beginnings in Russia, to how she met her husband, and all through the milestones and battles she encountered. Many have seen Miss Rand's work as trucculent or unrealistic, while others have completely changed their thinking entirely. The interviews and film footage humanize the woman that previously only existed to others as a leader of a philosophical/morality movement. What kind of music did she like, and why? What made her write with such passion and profoundly clarity? Why did she answer questions posed to her by first explaining the fallacy of reasoning that led to assumptions to ask the question? Miss Rand is truly a heroic woman with much to say on the subject. The video demonstrates that she may have been headstrong, but she never violated her principles of living for her self. The subtitle, "A Sense of Life" is a concept that Ayn Rand uses to describe a person's metaphysical view of man's role in the universe. In simpler terms, it is how man sees others around him and how he reacts to events that occur to him. His sense of life makes him cynical or trusting, brooding or joyous. "A Sense Of Life" depicts a gay (in the classic sense, joyous and optimistic) and serious student of philosophy, passionately devoted to articulating the right answers.
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Summary: A must for Rand admirers
Review: For her legion of readers, Ayn Rand's legendary novels, "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged," have been life changing experiences. Her heroes, Howard Roark and John Galt, are rugged individualists oblivious to the world's judgments, and Rand's gift for story telling would have been enough to secure her position as one of the 20th century's greatest authors. But Rand's novels offered something more: a philosophy she called "objectivism" that wasn't too far removed from the philosophies upon which the United States was founded, but which, nonetheless, proved controversial, often mistaken for selfishness. As a result of the controversy, Rand's standing in the world of literature suffered as her notoriety as a philosopher grew.Michael Paxton's Oscar nominated documentary isn't likely to alter anyone's opinion of this brilliant, strong-willed woman, nor is it likely to provide the faithful with any revelations that haven't already been made available elsewhere. The film follows Rand's unhappy girlhood in Russia to her immigration to the U.S., her relationships, both platonic and otherwise, with film director Cecil B. DeMille, husband Frank O' Connor, and psychologist Nathaniel Brandon. A generous helping of vintage film clips show Rand explaining and/or defending her concepts to the likes of Mike Wallace, Phil Donahue, and Tom Snyder, but there's little in-depth examination of her beliefs, making the film a love letter from a fan for the benefit of an audience already familiar with and devoted to her work. On that level, it is a success. For the uninitiated, it may fall short and prove enlightening only after having read the novels.
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Summary: An Absorbing Account
Review: I have always had mixed opinions about Ayn Rand. After watching this documentary, I still do. But that does not mean the movie does not succeed. It documents her life from an unfullfilling childhood in Russia, her coming to America, her courtship and marriage, and her hard work and determination that led to her success as a philosopher, novelist, and scriptwriter. It shows that although her philosphy may seem cold to some, she is indeed a warm person who lived by her beliefs: Individualism, objectivism, selfishness, laissez faire, love, and the value of human life and the concept of ones soul. And spoke against beliefs she deemed false: Collectivism, benevolence, communism, fascism, and sacrificing oneself for others. Well, my unqualified opinion about her philosophy is that it is not absolute, she is both right and wrong. For instance, Ayn Rand would describe a World Champion baseball team as being a group composed of twenty-five great individuals. Those who disagree with Ayn Rand would simply call it a great "team".
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Summary: Excellent documentary!
Review: I liked this documentary very much. It should have won the Academy Award last year! Those who have not seen it can rent it at their local video store as I have (I plan to buy it when it is priced cheaper!) Despite her personal flaws, Ayn Rand was a philosopher who taught young people in the midst of developing their identity that happiness is the purpose to life! A life lesson we often forget! Although her novels were preachy at times, they moved and motivated me. Okay, I agree that some of her devoted fans (young objectivists) can be annoying: the worst among them parrot her catch phrases ("check your premises," "a is a," etc.; prefer Rachmaninoff over Bach; and denounce Kant without ever have read him - but that's just a youthful phase we all have gone through! Give them a break! But young objectivisits are not the story here - Ayn Rand is. And she was wonderful! Long live the power of Ayn Rand's ideas!
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Summary: Love Her - Hate Her - See This Film
Review: I saw The Fountainhead (which she wrote with complete script control) long before I'd heard of Ayn Rand. Then I discovered that someone took this nonsense seriously... well, that's disturbing. I mean she's gotta be a kook, right? Then along comes "Sense Of Life", which explains it all. Remember, Pro-Rand are happy to espouse her benevolent Super-Man theories, and Anti-Rand relish calling her fascist. Ironically neither are really true. See "..Sense Of Life" I always thought her writing was juvenile (an ancestor of todays TV Soaps), and her politics naive. I had no idea how right I was. See "..Sense Of Life" Bottom line: Ayn Rand's "philosophy" is a little girl fantasizing about lantern jawed silent serial heroes (all of them in America) from her village in Russia. Look at Gary Cooper; look at her husband; look at the charlatan intellecual she had her affair with. They ALL LOOK THE SAME. See "..Sense Of Life" If you've seen The Fountainhead, she's Dominique, and her husband is Ray Massey. But her real life Cooper turns out to be a bum. Yeah -- that's A Sense Of Life, Ayn! Don't forget the Architect or Architects (albeit self-proclaimed, Frank Lloyd Wright) took a few steps back from her material, too. See "..Sense Of Life" And yet I have to respect the woman. She fought for everything she had. She *earned* everything. See this film. Love her or hate her, you'll thank her for the documentary. And it's not like anyone of VOTING AGE (except perhaps for George Bush Jnr) takes her seriously.
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Summary: "A Sense of Life" Enlightens Fans
Review: If you're a big fan of Ayn Rand's works and novels, then I highly recommend checking out this documentary. I have always been curious about Ayn Rand's life and her personality... This documentary definitely satisfied my curiosity. Michael Paxton, the director, does a superb job of compiling still pictures, film clips, memoirs and interviews into this documentary. If Ayn Rand were alive today, I sincerely believe she would be proud of the way she is portrayed in this film. The documentary is faithful to her "Spirit." It's a wonderful tribute to an "individual" who has impacted millions through her "revoluntionary" philosophy.
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Summary: Exalted and uplifting portrait of a heroine
Review: The director, Michael Paxton, has succeeded beautifully in conveying a portrait of a true heroine, writer/thinker/philosopher Ayn Rand, who was the arch-champion and defender of reason, rational egoism, individualism, capitalism--that is, man's right to exist. This film is not about her philosophy, though there are several excerpts alluding to it, but more about her life, or a bio-documentary, as it were. It is about her views of life from an early age to the day she died and how she formed her own soul. Hence the documentary's title, "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life." It is truly uplifting and inspiring, especially in a world dominated by irrationality, mysticism, and collectivism. But remember, Ayn Rand is also here and an alternative exists. Her philosophy exists and with the existence of this film, she lives forever on celluloid. Watch it for yourselves and see what I mean. As for the reviewer from Canada, from July 26, 1999, I can't help but wonder why he gave the film only one star. The review complains only about the price of the video, but doesn't give any reasons for either liking or disliking it. Is this what reviews should be based on--price? Or the material presented in the film? I hope all who see this film will enjoy it, and if they do, will turn to Ayn Rand's writings. For fuel, read Ayn Rand. And remember, if you want her views in her own words, or anyone else's for that matter, read her work firsthand, not second or third-hand because this does not and cannot work, and fails for obvious reasons. Those who smear her or misrepresent her views(lying) are only doing themselves a disservice and those who credit them deserve them. Use your mind to conclude what you think of her views. Be an independent thinker, not a leech off of the minds of others. If you do this last you will discover that you will be learning and integrating ideas into your mind, not parroting them, as so many people do. Doing the first is knowledge; doing the second is second-hand and will just not do. It is one thing to read and integrate what a writer has written; it is a totally different thing to read, study, think and integrate what a writer has written, and then deciding whether you agree or not. I hope this film will inspire many to enter the full, sunlit universe of Ayn Rand's ideas, and further, to apply them to their own lives and achieve happiness. This film will help put you on the right track to achieving this. Good luck to you all.
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Summary: A brilliant advocate of individualism
Review: This is an entertaining and very thorough, though one-sided, look at the life of Ayn Rand, one of the most controversial philosophers of recent times. The fact that many in academia would not deign to call her a "philosopher" at all is due more to ideological bias and her uncompromising nature than to any defect in her thinking or writing. Ayn Rand was a Russian immigrant who loved the idea of America from an early age. In America, and in New York City in particular, she saw the highest culmination of man's achievement. In her view, only a completely free capitalist economic system allows human beings to express their true nature and reach their full potential. This philosophy was later adapted by the modern libertarian movement (which Rand herself quickly disassociated herself from for various personal and ideological reasons). This documentary does a very good job at showing Rand's life in a way she herself would have appreciated (she died some twenty years before the film was made). This, of course, can be considered a defect. There is scarcely one dissenting voice in the film, with the exception of Phil Donahue, who interviewed Rand several times. Leonard Peikoff, called Ayn Rand's "intellectual heir," does not seem to disagree one iota with anything his teacher ever said. The paradox about Ayn Rand and the movement she started, called Objectivism, is that despite its strict adherence to reason and individualism, it had some definite cultlike characteristics. Followers imitated Rand down to the smallest mannerism; for example, it was virtually mandatory to smoke cigarettes as Rand considered this a powerful symbol of man conquering fire (this detail is not in the film). Rand's dogmatism inevitably comes through in the film, but it is mainly presented as the virtue of one who refuses to comprise, like Howard Roark, John Galt and the other heroes of her novels. There was definitely a less noble aspect to her personality, which is not dealt with in the documentary. Her affair with Nathaniel Branden is briefly, and rather clumsily alluded to. Nathaniel Branden, his wife Barbara (both who have written books about Ayn Rand) had a complex relationship with Ayn Rand (and her husband Frank O'Connor, who seems to have mainly taken a back seat in the events of her life). The film implies that the unpleasant ending of Rand's relationship with Branden was due to some shortcoming on his part. There are, of course, other versions of this story. One fact, again not mentioned in the film, is that Rand and her closest followers denounced Branden (who is himself the author of several influential books on psychology) very viciously, treating him very much like someone who has abandoned a cult. It may very well be, however, that Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life is a better film for focusing on the positive traits of its subject's life. After all, many brilliant artists and intellectuals have been difficult personalities in their everyday lives. Ayn Rand's arrogance, dogmatism and intolerance of dissent does not explain or justify the contempt with which she has been treated by the mainstream media and academic establishment. It seems that she was a spokesperson for an idea that will never be intellectually respectable -that the individual, not God, society or the state is of primary importance. I would highly recommend this film to anyone interested in the life of this extraordinary woman. Those not familiar with her may want to read her novels, especially The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged first.
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Summary: The Enigma of Ayn Rand
Review: 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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