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Hannah Arendt

(1 Post)
MiceElf Thu 03-Oct-13 20:31:08

Highly recommended. This is a film about ideas, the meaning of evil, the 'banality of evil' which was a phrase coined by Arendt and the conflict between a philosophical consideration of Eichmann's motivations - was it the anti Semitism common to all Nazis, or was it a unthinking beuarocrat, who followed orders because he had ceased to be a person, who had lost his humanity. There are scenes from the original trial which I remember from so long ago and the big conflict in the film is the reaction of many of the Jewish Americans and many Israelis to her analysis. Her uncompromising defence at the end of the film is a real tour de force and a brilliant, almost courtroom (although it's a lecture hall) scene. The direction and acting are excellent.