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[S. Jester]

Another one of Ayn Rand's work has made it to the screen.

http://www.lfb.org/product_info.php?cPath=50&products_id=70


S.

[Claire]

Well, to be picky about it, We the Living actually made it to the screen in 1941 and 1942 -- in Italy, in an unauthorized two-parter.

The trivia: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035130/trivia

But details aside, it's a beautiful movie. Well worth seeing.

Despite my belief in an artist's right to own & control her own works, it's a blessing to the world that neither Rand nor any of her minions had artistic control over the film. The pirate filmmakers were free to make a real movie of the novel, rather than being constrained to try to squeeze the novel painfully onto the screen, as was done with The Fountainhead.

[S. Jester]

Which one?

"Noi Vivi" and "Addio Kira!" or the one in which Ayn Rand herself located the previous two films, after denying the producers' request to re-release the films, then combined them into one which was released in 1986 as We the Living. After all, you yourself said it was a blessing Rand didn't have anything to do with the original two. With the two films combined, with Rand's hand in it, something had to be left out.


S.

[Claire]

Which one?

"Noi Vivi" and "Addio Kira!" or the one in which Ayn Rand herself located the previous two films, after denying the producers' request to re-release the films, then combined them into one which was released in 1986 as We the Living. After all, you yourself said it was a blessing Rand didn't have anything to do with the original two. With the two films combined, with Rand's hand in it, something had to be left out.

Well, Rand's hand really couldn't have been in the 1986 version; she was dead by then. It's possible Piekoff or some other Randian put an artistic hand in. But I doubt it.

Since the two original movies were made at the same time, they were made to integrate well with each other. My guess is that nothing much was altered in the later release except for the second set of titles being cut out.

That's just a guess. You may know more than I. But since the '86 version leaves intact the one thing that Rand and her followers must truly have hated -- the altered ending to the story -- I think it's a good bet that the '86 version reflects the filmmakers' true intent and not an official Objectivist revision.

[Claire]

Hm. The Wikipedia entry on We the Living does imply that some editing was done and that Rand had a hand in it before her death:

Rediscovered in the 1960s, these films were re-edited into a new version which was approved by Rand and re-released as We the Living in 1986.

I'm still guessing the editing was "lite." If Rand or any Randian was willing to see the film released with a non-Rand ending, that implies that they didn't do much to "Objectivize" the rest of the flick. Would be interesting to know, though.