Ayn Rand - In Her Own Words

Wow! As a fan of both Ayn Rand and great documentaries I was keen to see In Her Own Words. I had heard a lot about the documentary coming out and with the Atlas Shrugged movie to be released in mid-April I was getting a little obsessed about seeing the doc before I saw the movie based on her novel. The great news is that I have seen the doc and I was not disappointed. What I saw in this comprehensive and fascinating piece was so powerful that I just had to watch it again and again. The directors have pulled out all of the stops to ensure that the viewer is guaranteed both pure enjoyment and stunning insight.

Without a doubt I can now say that I have gotten to know Ayn Rand in a way that I would never have thought possible. For all of her intellect, her philosophic passion and her fictional stories, to me it may be her own story, the true story of her life that is just as fascinating and amazing. Watching this documentary was as if I lived part of my life with Ayn Rand.

What Ayn Rand had to say back then, both from a philosophical and political perspective may be even truer now. Not only do I know so much more about Ayn Rand the person but even more importantly I am more committed than ever to her beliefs in individual rights, capitalism and minimum government.

An amazing woman. A compelling story. A superb documentary. Strongly suggest that you see the doc first if you are going to see Atlas Shrugged the movie.

I found my attention wandering often. The film focuses on her life story, told by her voice, usually over simple pictures and with only occasional video in the first half of the film. About 10-15 minutes near the end of the film focus more specifically on her philosophy, including a greater density of interviews, which are consistently more engaging than the earlier component of the film. Overall this film was fine, but certainly not spectacular.

As a substitute, I'd recommend Ayn Rand - A Sense of Life. That film covers much of the same material but is better composed. However, some may say "In Her Own Words" is preferred since it is basically all literally in Ayn's own words and voice.

I never knew much about Rand's personal life, or that there was so much footage of her. This film uses several filmed interviews she did at various points, and pulls together her whole life story and discussion of her philosophy, books, movies, etc. Really fascinating. I think the only voice you hear is Ayn Rand herself. Pretty much that's all anyway. You come away really understanding how she thought and why.