''The Passion of Ayn Rand'' is a 1999 American

biographical drama A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudr ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

Christopher Menaul Christopher Menaul (born 25 July 1944) is a British film, television director and television writer. Since the late 1970s, Menaul has amassed credits in episodic television and by directing television films. Filmography Film *'' Feast of July' ...

and written by

Howard Korder Howard Korder is an American screenwriter and playwright. He is the author of the 1988 coming-of-age play '' Boy's Life'', which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nomination. His play ''Search and Destroy'' was adapted into a film in 1995. ...

and Mary Gallagher, based on the 1986 book of the same name by

Barbara Branden Barbara Joan Branden (née Weidman; May 14, 1929 – December 11, 2013) was a Canadian-American writer, editor, and lecturer, known for her relationship and subsequent break with novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand. Life Born in Winnipeg, Barbara Weid ...

. The film stars Helen Mirren as philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand, who engages in an affair with Nathaniel Branden, played by Eric Stoltz, a psychologist who is 25 years younger than she is. Branden built up an institute to spread Rand's ideas, but the two eventually had a falling-out. The film also stars Julie Delpy as Branden's wife Barbara and Peter Fonda as Rand's husband Frank O'Connor. ''The Passion of Ayn Rand'' premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 1999, and aired on Showtime on May 30, 1999. It received moderately positive reviews from critics.

Cast

* Helen Mirren as Ayn Rand * Eric Stoltz as Nathaniel Branden * Julie Delpy as

* Peter Fonda as Frank O'Connor *

Tom McCamus Tom McCamus (born July 25, 1955Tom McCamus' bio
at www.northernstars.ca) is a Canadia ...

as Richard

Production

Filming took place in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Release

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 1999. It aired on Showtime on May 30, 1999.

Reception

Critical reception

Based on reviews collected by

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an overall approval rating from critics of 80%, with an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 6.8/10. Writing in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', David Kronke called the film "an ambitious, visually sumptuous attempt to depict a bizarre element of a controversial personality's life". Kronke went on to say, "Unfortunately, its insistence on maintaining a detached point of view towards its characters – or, rather, no point of view at all, as the filmmakers seem reticent to offend either Rand fans or detractors – renders it dramatically inert."

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Passion of Ayn Rand, The 1999 films 1999 drama films 1990s American films 1990s biographical drama films 1990s English-language films American biographical drama films American drama television films Biographical films about philosophers Biographical films about writers Biographical television films Cultural depictions of Ayn Rand Films based on biographies Films directed by Christopher Menaul Films scored by Jeff Beal Films set in 1951 Films set in 1957 Films set in 1964 Films set in 1981 Films set in 1982 Films set in Los Angeles Films set in New York City Films shot in Toronto Showtime (TV network) films Television films based on books Works about Ayn Rand