Saturday night I watched the most incredible movie, Atlas Shrugged, Part I. Going into the movie I wasn't so thrilled, I didn't know what to expect. I had tried to read Ayn Rand's Fountainhead in high school and it left a foul taste in my mouth. I wanted to like it and the parts that I read I did like, it just took me forever to read it and it was, oh just over 700 pages (of really tiny font). I was reading it for a writing contest (to write an essay on it) and I realized I was never going to be finished before the deadline. So I returned the book to my English teacher and did what any sensible person would do read the plot summary on Wikipedia. I'm not proud of it, but I did learn what happened. Needless to say, I had had my first second experience with Rand (the first was from reading Anthem, which I really enjoyed). Since then I've always wondered how people would make a movie of either the Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged (which is even bigger than Fountainhead).
When I finally gave in to watching Atlas Shrugged (or even just clicking on the movie poster on Instant Netflix), I realized that the title of the movie read: Atlas Shrugged, Part I. And the movie that's in theaters now was obviously titled Part II. Curious me had to instantly look everything up on imdb. That's when I got the shock of my life, Paul Johansson (a favorite actor of mine who played the infamous Dan Scott on One Tree Hill) directed and starred in this movie. From then on out I knew it was going to be good. The fact that Dagny (one of the main characters) was played by Taylor Schilling (from the not so hit TV show, Mercy, and the movie The Lucky One) was just a huge bonus. Who ever decided that Atlas Shrugged, Part I shouldn't be advertised and Part II should be was a complete sillyhead. From the plot to the acting to the cinematography, the whole movie is sublime. I wish I had known about it sooner. I really do.
But from what I've seen of the trailer for Part II, the acting and the main characters aren't so strong. Maybe I'm just biased right now because of the high Part I has me on, but its the way I feel. I even want to read the book! And I don't read books after I seen the movie.
If you're wondering what the movie is about, I guess I could give you a quick summary. The government takes complete control of the economy (which super stinks, btw, prices of gas are on average $35/gallon or something ridiculous like that). The government decides that everything should be equal (it's unfair for one person to own more than 1 company, everyone should have equal wages, etc.). But mostly the people who are running the government are self-entitled, self-interested morons. They spin the media so that new things are "dangerous" especially if it has a chance at succeeded (if Rearden Steel won't sell their new formula for steel that is over twice as durable and light than regular steel, then Rearden Steel is unsafe!). The main characters, Dagny Tagget and Henry Rearden, try their hardest to fight the system and succeed no matter what gets thrown at them while some of their hardest and best workers are disappearing. All with the one question: "Who is John Galt?"
It's an extremely intricate, extremely beautiful commentary on socialism and a busybody government that happens in the not so distant future (2016). While Ayn Rand wrote the novel in 1957 (I'm sure that seemed like an eternity until the future she wrote about), I'm sure the commentary was pretty relevant to her time (and even more so now). I think that may be why the release of Part II was so advertised (and still is) because of the upcoming political election. When they made Part I, there was always a trilogy in the plans, I just wish they had signed on the whole cast for all three movies. It doesn't make sense to me to switch the actors/actresses when the characters are all supposed to be the same. Maybe the cult following they were expecting just didn't pan out. Okay, I can think of a lot of maybe possibilities. I'll go into watching the movie with an open-mind, but I'm already predicting I'll like the first one alot better (just because of the actors/actresses).
You can see what I mean below, if you want to compare the 2 trailers. (The blondes are supposed to be Dagny Taggart and I have yet to figure out who is Henry Rearden in Part II, but I think it's pretty obvious in Part I.)
Atlas Shrugged, Part I trailer
Atlas Shrugged, Part II trailer
And because you know I love pictures of my main man, here's Oscar cheesing for the camera.
Update 10/23/12: I forgot to post this photo in the original blog post.
Title: "National Anthem" by Lana Del Rey
(skip to 2:05)
(Also just a disclaimer, not my favorite song/video, but it seemed a little relevant.)
Labels: Books, Movies, Music, Previews, Reviews, Trailers
