Hannah Arendt

"All signs point toward Margarethe von Trotta’s Hannah Arendt being a bit of tough sell: its deep immersion in philosophy, politics, and a subject who, for viewers not particularly well-read in history (i.e. me), might not generate immediate interest. But while the film is incredibly - and passionately - talky, it isn’t some stuffy academic lecture, but an absorbing, stirringly intellectual biopic that manages to elucidate an influential, complex figure with clarity and intelligence."

"Feels like a movie stuck in another era, stolid and rote, more of an outline for a dramatic treatment than the real thing."

"A disappointingly stilted historical drama."

"A movie of one billion cigarettes, Hannah Arendt is about moral reason, not personality."

"Arendt was a writer of long books and a maker of complex arguments, so the two hours of [this] ardent and intelligent film about her are bound to feel somewhat superficial."

"This is a formal and pedagogic production, but worthwhile nonetheless."

"Von Trotta's style is pretty stolid... Nonetheless, it's good to see a film that gets its narrative charge from the ferment of intellectual debate. It's a rare breed."

"There’s nothing fancy or modern to distract from the portrait of one of the most important thinkers of the century."

"There's plenty of zip and vibrancy in this account... but it gravely underestimates its audience's stomach for complexity."