Margarethe von Trotta has, no doubt, tried to present
the famous political un-philosopher as both 1) intellectually brilliant, and 2)
sensitive, compassionate, and loving. As we all know, this is an exceedingly rare
combination. And, occasionally, the movie does provides some hints that Arendt was
somewhat emotionally detached: she hears the news that the man she loves is in
hospital after collapsing with a brain aneurism, and her impulse is to go back into
the classroom to finish her class; she intimidates over the phone the New Yorker editor who dares to most
diplomatically remind her of her deadline; she is at a loss when a close friend
turns his back on her as he is lying in his deathbed…
But what seems most striking is the complete and utter
self-assurance with which Arendt faces any criticisms directed at her “banality
of evil” theory, claiming that she is just presenting the objective facts. If
this is the way the real Arendt thought and acted, she doesn’t seem too far
removed from a contemporary group of social scientists she would have hated to
be associated with. I am thinking of the Chicago school economists who, even
after the financial meltdown of 2008, have clung to their unbending faith that unfettered
markets tend to balance. So, who knows – perhaps Arendt could well have been another
nerdy intellectual who constructed a schematic/analytical model in order to make sense of
a puzzling phenomenon; and who took it for “reality”…
