Atlas Shrugged Part II Review
This is a sort of a review of the video Atlas Shrugged Part II.
After crossing the Pacific my video arrived only last month.
I hereby give you my impressions. Yes, it came out last year in the States, so if this is old hat to you, you do not have to read it. I have to write it.
I find I am unable to resist looking forward to Part III.
What is good:
White-knuckle tension thru-out.
Somehow I do not think the screenplay was that good. It must be the music, subliminal mostly as it should be, but highly effective. I know it is hard to retain people but I hope composer Chris Bacon stays on for Part III.
More to follow as I tidy it up.
After crossing the Pacific my video arrived only last month.
I hereby give you my impressions. Yes, it came out last year in the States, so if this is old hat to you, you do not have to read it. I have to write it.
I find I am unable to resist looking forward to Part III.
What is good:
White-knuckle tension thru-out.
Somehow I do not think the screenplay was that good. It must be the music, subliminal mostly as it should be, but highly effective. I know it is hard to retain people but I hope composer Chris Bacon stays on for Part III.
More to follow as I tidy it up.
I like the way the Part II James Taggart was played.
In Part I he was just a silly idler playing at being an executive.
In Part II, when shady deals and bad decisions were being made his face showed some concern.
His choice tho' was to either join in or do nothing.
This may be useful for Part III. Most other of the parasite/moocher characters are cardboard cut-outs. James Taggart is showing just enough unease in Part II to emphasize what follows, his character has already gone, but later he looses his humanity. (Better than the book?).
I am thinking if in Part III we will see more of union leader Fred Kinnan. In the book he is the perhaps only honest -with himself- conspirator, he sees a rort going on and demands that he is in on it. Looks like his role is compressed.
Francisco was well played by Esai Morales. A difficult role as he is still 'undercover' as a wastrel and playboy. Was there a comment that he should have been taller? Huh. The Latin confidence and of course expression of logical argument were done nicely without arrogance.
Lack of detail:
From the book we know a good deal about Hank Reardon but little about Reardon Metals. We can be sure that it is well run. Workers who do proper work are properly paid, top people are highly rewarded, slackers are dismissed, adherence to high safety standards is strict, "You can’t pour metal without rigid principles".
The fire at the plant must be from sabotage but this is not made clear in the video.
Irony:
The new and young train control chap, Mitchum, faced with a problem beyond his training and capability was given a vague instruction by the boss who knew how to protect himself. It is clear the youngster is going to get the blame.
Tension:
The entire smash episode held me breathless. Maybe because I know the story, maybe it was the music, maybe it was all done very well.
Even more to follow.
Good that we got the important little scene where Dagny refuses to steal by claiming ownership of the motor.
Similar, Dagny's words before quitting- 'I will not be a slave or a slave driver'.
After the big crash and Dagny has taken charge there is the big screen scene showing Mouch asking Dagny, 'What can government do to help', Dagny answers- 'Keep out'.
Then he says 'I knew we could count on your cooperation'.
It tells us that whatever brilliant and capable people do, the bludgers and cronyists take credit tho' they do nothing. I don't recall this in the book but it is fully in the spirit.
General:
I do not see a newcomer to the story being able to work it out from watching the video unless they are given the background. Maybe they are not the target audience.
Bad:
The opening scene was poor.
Samantha Mathis is not bad, looks about the correct age for the part, but failed on the opening by having a deadpan face. Image if we had people of the caliber of Kate Beckinsale or Jennifer Ehle who has a facial expression to express every thought. Just in case anyone says, but these are Jane Austen specialists, I ask, do you know the background of O'Toole who does screenplay for II and III? I say, great choice.
The choice of aircraft was poor. They should have been light aircraft not executive jets. With light aircraft the pilot not the computer is in control and we should have seen hand movements and matching facial expressions as Dagny catches up with and follows the plane she is following, sees the harsh terrain below, then the plane in front vanishing, then turbulence and noise as her plane crash lands.
To be fair, Mathis was good in the almost identical closing scene.
More to follow.
Before WorldWar 1, Winston Churchill had been ejected from cabinet. On the declaration of war he was invited back as Minister for the Admiralty (Navy Secretary). He was already a hero in the Services. A message was telegraphed across all ships in the British fleet: "Winston's back" What a moment!
Now, in Atlas Part II, when Dagny returns after hearing about the big smash we should have got more urgency- Dagny on a motor-bike dash into the city, then, grim-faced striding into Taggart HQ in jeans boots leather jacket, being recognized, phones ringing, emails flashing.
Then Dagny takes charge. She does not give orders just by rank. What she says is the outcome of detailed knowledge of the entire system, and fast synthesis of facts on track and equipment. There is the frustration of many good people gone ... The video did not fail but could have been stronger.
[Perhaps there is another interpretation, Rand is telling us, the light we see ahead is not the end of the tunnel but another train ... the system is so bad that a crash is unavoidable.]
To other detail merchants:
The interiors were very stylish, a notch or ten above my current surroundings ...
There was a balanced politically correct cast, I did notice many Chinese names in the credits but none in the cast, I did not count tho' !
In the book, Dagny is a cultured music connoisseur especially of composer Halley, in the video I was disappointed to see the important Halley concert attended by airhead James. In Part I, Dagny is also reduced by saying 'I did engineering courses at university', actually, Dagny is qualified as a professional engineer.
Plot weakness- a Taggart employee wearing a 20th-Century-Motors cap at work. Well, when Dagny doubles his pay I would have her making a rule that it is ok.
Good
The ending shots: Dagny is greeted with the words, "I am John Galt". This both rounds off the drama and gets us to anticipate Part III.
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