h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This film recommendation is going to be a VERY hard sell to all but ttwo or three of you out there. In the first place, this film isn't a freebie – if you want to see it,you're going to have to hunt for it. It's available on Netflix right now, but beware: the Netflix audience, ever astute, apparently had problems understanding the part of the film that was in English. So, in addition to the subtitles for the German part (and Hebrew bits), there's closed captioning throughout. You will betold about the telephone ringing and the birds chirping.

The result is a bit like sitting in a Romanian cinema, where the third-hand film already has subtitles in Japanese down one side. Live it with it, it's worth it.

Another reason this is a hard sell is because the film is about…wait for it…philosophers.

And Hitler.

So why in the world would you want to see it? Because it might – just might – be a life-changing experience. It was for me.

'Hannah Arendt' by Margarethe von Trotta is true to life. In one scene, I had the distinct feeling that I'd been there. Then I realised why: it was a Q&A session in German between a distinguished professor (Arendt) and some advanced German students. I HAD been there. I empathised so hard with that young man, trying to ask a tactful question about the Holocaust in a language he only had a tenuous grasp of. Yep, as Elektra said, been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.

What happens in the film? Professor Hannah Arendt, former pupil and lover of Martin Heidegger, is sent to Jerusalem by the 'New Yorker' magazine. Her assignment? To cover the Eichmann Trial. At least, that's what the 'New Yorker' thought. Arendt knew better: she needed to solve the riddle of the Holocaust.And she did, magnificently. And made a lot of people very angry. Thinking does that.

As Heidegger said, thinking is a lonely business. Arendt learned from the best. Heidegger was a brilliant philosopher – read 'Sein und Zeit', when you're tired of the Marvel spinoffs on TV – but as a human being, he had about as much backbone as wilted lettuce. This film has humour: the nerds-in-love scene between Heidegger and Arendt is sort of touching, in a weird way.

The film uses footage of the Eichmann Trial. It has great acting – great BILINGUAL acting, thank you – and a very, very important story to tell. My conclusion: if you watched this film, got it,and could write a sensible essay about it,you should get three credits toward your bachelor's degree in modern philosophy. So there.

Have I convinced you to watch this yet? Maybe, maybe not. But I've got it off my chest. This is one helluva great film. I found it exhilarating.

Here are some links for you:

Trailer for the film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTQNWgZVctM

Mini bio of Hannah Arendt:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arendt/

Mini bio of Martin Heidgger:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/heidegger/

A SHORT clip of Martin Heidgger droning on about Being. (He'sfor it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJCGmi41cLA

LISTEN to 'Being and Time'. Bel, this is something to do while hoovering:

http://archive.org/details/AlexSteinbergHeideggerBeingandTimePartI

Read the review of the film, in which the 'New Yorker' demonstrates that it isn't above holding a grudge – in the words of Douglas Adams, 'as the sea is not above the sky'::

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2013/05/hannah-arendt-and-the-glorification-of-thinking.html