Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life

1998 • 144 minutes

About this movie

AYN RAND: A SENSE OF LIFE is the first authorized film look at the life and work of the controversial Russian-born author of “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged.” Narrated by Emmy Award-winning actress Sharon Gless, the documentary offers millions of fans the opportunity to relive the drama of Ayn Rand`s life and fiction: from her early childhood and escape from Soviet Russia to her struggle and triumph as an American writer whose book sales exceed 300,000 copies annually after five decades in print. Drawing from personal papers and public archives across two continents, the film combines fact, literary fiction and an intimate weave of interviews with Rand`s intellectual heir Leonard Peikoff, television journalist Mike Wallace, as well as rare photos, archival footage and an original film-noir scene from her 1934 play, “Ideal.” The material captures Rand’s life-long themes of reason, rational selfishness and political freedom. AYN RAND – A SENSE OF LIFE, sweeping from pre-Revolutionary Russia to contemporary America, tells the story of a “ferocious angel,” a woman, and thinker who continues to incite the curiosity and passion of millions.