Hannah Arendt (2012)

A look at the life of philosopher and political theorist Hannah Arendt, who reported for 'The New Yorker' on the trial of the Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem.

Director:

Margarethe von Trotta

Writers:

Pamela Katz (screenplay) (as Pam Katz), Margarethe von Trotta (screenplay)

Stars:

Barbara Sukowa, Axel Milberg, Janet McTeer

5 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Barbara Sukowa	...	Hannah Arendt
Janet McTeer	...	Mary McCarthy
Julia Jentsch	...	Lotte Köhler
Axel Milberg	...	Heinrich Blücher
Timothy Lone	...	News Speaker
Megan Gay	...	Francis Wells
Nicholas Woodeson	...	William Shawn
Tom Leick	...	Jonathan Schell
Ulrich Noethen	...	Hans Jonas
Nilton Martins	...	Student Enrico
Leila Lallali	...	Student Laureen (as Leila Schaus)
Harvey Friedman	...	Thomas Miller
Victoria Trauttmansdorff	...	Charlotte Beradt
Sascha Ley	...	Lore Jonas
Friederike Becht	...	Young Hannah Arendt

Storyline

In 1961, the noted German-American philosopher of Jewish origin, Hannah Arendt, gets to report on the trial of the notorious Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann. While observing the legal proceedings, Arendt concludes that Eichmann was not a monster, but an ordinary man who had thoughtlessly buried his conscience through his obedience to the Nazi regime and its ideology. Arendt's expansion of this idea, presented in her articles for 'The New Yorker', would create her concept of 'the banality of evil' that she thought even sucked in some Jewish leaders of the era into unwittingly participating in the Holocaust. The result is a bitter public controversy in which Arendt is accused of blaming the Holocaust's victims. Now that strong willed intellectual is forced to defend her ideas in a struggle that will exact a heavy personal cost.

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Plot Keywords:

triple f rated | book | based on true story | title directed by female | feminist film | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

For a deeper understanding of this story, one might care to watch Operation Finale, which depicts the undercover mission to find and extract Adolph Eichman from Argentina and bring him to trial in Israel. Showing the backgroung of an operation sanctioned by PM Ben Gurion, the film gives us a glimpse of the complexity of Eichman's character, his futile attemps to justify his actions and tell his side of the story.

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Goofs

When Arendt stands on the terrace of her hotel in Jerusalem at looks across the Valley of Hinnom at the Old City, there are Israel flags flying from the Tower of David complex. However, the Old City of Jerusalem was still under Jordanian control in 1961.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mary McCarthy: But Hannah, how can you defend him?
Hannah Arendt: But I'm not defending him. You can hardly forget that your husband is only my friend because of you. And I don't throw away my friends so quickly.

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Connections

Referenced in Two Shots Fired (2014)

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Soundtracks

Sherry Lane
Composed and Produced by Frank Stumvoll
Courtesy of Freshart Musicproductions

User Reviews

Evil has an ordinary face

This is a fascinating look at Hanna Arendt, a German-American philosopher who in 1961 reported on the trial of Adolf Eichmann for the New Yorker. A huge controversy erupted.

Arendt left Germany in 1933 for France, but when Germany invaded France, she found herself in a detention camp. When the film begins, she is a happily married woman with friends such as the writer Mary McCarthy, and she is a professor at, among other places, the New School in New York City.

Hanna is very excited about covering the trial, but her husband, Heinrich, is afraid it will take her back to those dark days.

While observing Eichmann, Arendt is struck by the fact that he was an ordinary man with nothing special about him. This causes her to think about the nature of evil itself. She decides that he's not a monster but a person who suppressed his conscience in order to be obedient to the Nazis. She thus created the concept of the "banality of evil."

She believed also that some Jewish leaders at the time had fallen into this trap and unwittingly participated in the Holocaust. Her critics failed to understand her meaning.

In some camps, her New Yorker articles were not well received, as she was seen as a heartless turncoat who blamed the victims. Hanna has to defend her ideas, and the price she pays for them is high.

Barbara Sukowa does a magnificent job as Arendt, showing the woman's brilliance, courage, affection for friends and family, and hurt when some people she loved turned against her.

It's surprising that she was met with as much disdain as she was -- but Arendt did not believe in blind adoration of any group. She took people on an individual basis.

As far as the banality of evil, evil has always had the ordinary face of people sitting back and doing what they're told. Or, as Martin Luther King said, doing nothing. I'm sure many of us have experienced this in the workplace -- I know I did. It's then that you realize the true nature of most people. Everyone can say they have ethics - but do they have ethnics when they stand to lose something?

Beautifully directed by Margarethe von Trotta, who also co-wrote the screenplay. A difficult subject made clear, a complicated woman understandable -- no small feat. A thought-provoking film.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Germany Luxembourg France Israel

Language:

German English French Hebrew Latin

Release Date:

10 January 2013 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Hana Arent

Filming Locations:

Israel

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$31,270, 2 June 2013

Gross USA:

$717,205

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,880,936

Company Credits

Production Co:

Heimatfilm, Amour Fou Luxembourg, MACT Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White