Hannah Arendt

Margarethe von Trotta’s nimble, intelligently crafted picture about one of the 20th century’s most remarkable intellectuals—the titular German/Jewish author of "The Origins of Totalitarianism," which dissects how societies fall to fascism. No mere biopic, von Trotta's film shrewdly condenses the events surrounding Arendt's experience covering, for the New Yorker Magazine, the 1961 Israeli trial of Nazi functionary Adolph Eichmann and the resulting backlash from Jews who denounced her conclusions and considered her a traitor to her race. 

The movie avoids all the worst docudrama cliches and distils what made the woman who coined the phrase “The Banality of Evil” a singular writer and philosopher. It also showcases how those who speak important truths with intelligence, nuance, and complexity get shouted down by those who take comfort in black-and-white absolutes. Arendt’s findings and views are all the more relevant in today's society and all the more inarguable.

Nimble, intelligently crafted picture avoids all the worst docudrama cliches and distils what made the woman who coined the phrase “The Banality of Evil” a singular writer and philosopher.