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==Plot==
==Plot==


The plot follows closely the first section of the novel, ''Non-Contradiction''. In late 2016, the [[United States of America|United States]] is in the throes of an economic depression caused by global turmoil. As a result, gasoline prices are near forty dollars a gallon and [[passenger rail]] transportation has returned to being competitive in the marketplace. In the opening scene, a mysterious figure approaches a depressed banker named Midas Mulligan in a bar and offers him an opportunity to escape to a place where he is able to work for his own benefit.
The plot follows closely the first section of the novel, ''Non-Contradiction''. In late 2016, the [[United States of America|United States]] is in the throes of a sustained economic depression caused by global turmoil and which has been worsened by government's attempts to fix them. As a result, gasoline prices are near forty dollars a gallon and [[passenger rail]] transportation has returned to being competitive in the marketplace. In the opening scene, a mysterious figure approaches a depressed banker named Midas Mulligan in a bar and offers him an opportunity to escape to a place where he is able to work for his own benefit.


After a major accident on the Rio Norte line, a western line of Taggart Transcontinental railway, the CEO [[James Taggart]] shirks responsibility, blaming the company's failures not on their own inefficencies but on a lack of goodwill and generosity by others. [[Dagny Taggart]], his sister and a manager in the company takes charge by commissioning replacement of the aging line with a new line made of an experimental metal known as Rearden Metal. [[Hank Rearden]], the inventor of this metal, begins working with Dagny to complete this line and test out his metal. It is revealed that Hank has a family who, while living off his successes and taking his generosity for granted, fail to understand his motivations and regularly insult him for his devotion to work.
After a major accident on the Rio Norte line, a western line of Taggart Transcontinental railway, the CEO [[James Taggart]] shirks responsibility, blaming the company's failures not on their own inefficencies but on a lack of goodwill and generosity by others. [[Dagny Taggart]], his sister and a manager in the company takes charge by commissioning replacement of the aging line with a new line made of an experimental metal known as Rearden Metal. [[Hank Rearden]], the inventor of this metal, begins working with Dagny to complete this line and test out his metal. It is revealed that Hank has a family who, while living off his successes and taking his generosity for granted, fail to understand his motivations and regularly insult him for his devotion to work.

Revision as of 11:19, 18 April 2011

Atlas Shrugged: Part I
Directed byPaul Johansson
Written byBrian Patrick O'Toole
Produced byJohn Aglialoro
Harmon Kaslow
Bruce Wayne Gillies
StarringTaylor Schilling
Grant Bowler
Music byElia Cmiral
Release date
  • April 15, 2011 (2011-04-15)
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million
Box office$1,677,000[1]

Atlas Shrugged: Part I is a 2011 film adaptation of Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged, intended as the first in a film trilogy encompassing the entire 1,368-page book. After various treatments and proposals floundered in development hell for nearly 40 years,[2] investor John Aglialoro initiated production in June 2010. The film was directed by Paul Johansson and stars Taylor Schilling as Dagny Taggart and Grant Bowler as Hank Rearden.

Atlas Shrugged explores a dystopian United States where leading innovators, ranging from industrialists to artists, refuse to be exploited by society. The protagonist, Dagny Taggart, sees society collapse around her as the government increasingly asserts control over all industry (including Taggart Transcontinental, the once mighty transcontinental railroad for which she serves as the operating executive), while society's most productive citizens, led by the mysterious John Galt, progressively disappear. Galt describes the strike as "stopping the motor of the world" by withdrawing the "minds" that drive society's growth and productivity. In their efforts, these "men of the mind" hope to demonstrate that a world in which the individual is not free to create is doomed, that civilization cannot exist where men are slave to society and government, and that the destruction of the profit motive leads to the collapse of society.

Plot

The plot follows closely the first section of the novel, Non-Contradiction. In late 2016, the United States is in the throes of a sustained economic depression caused by global turmoil and which has been worsened by government's attempts to fix them. As a result, gasoline prices are near forty dollars a gallon and passenger rail transportation has returned to being competitive in the marketplace. In the opening scene, a mysterious figure approaches a depressed banker named Midas Mulligan in a bar and offers him an opportunity to escape to a place where he is able to work for his own benefit.

After a major accident on the Rio Norte line, a western line of Taggart Transcontinental railway, the CEO James Taggart shirks responsibility, blaming the company's failures not on their own inefficencies but on a lack of goodwill and generosity by others. Dagny Taggart, his sister and a manager in the company takes charge by commissioning replacement of the aging line with a new line made of an experimental metal known as Rearden Metal. Hank Rearden, the inventor of this metal, begins working with Dagny to complete this line and test out his metal. It is revealed that Hank has a family who, while living off his successes and taking his generosity for granted, fail to understand his motivations and regularly insult him for his devotion to work.

The economic downturn has caused policitians, such as Wesley Mouch and other corrupted heads of industry to look on successful companies like Rearden Steel with envy. James Taggart uses his political influence to benefit from a law passed whereby Taggart Transcontinental becomes the exclusive railroad for the state of Colorado. Ellis Wyatt, an oil man from Colorado, confronts Dagny demanding not excuses but that Taggart Transcontinental serve him well.

Francisco d'Anconia, a playboy and wealthy heir to a copper company, has invested heavily in prospective copper mines in Mexico. James Taggart and others who have invested alongside are shocked to find that, upon nationalization and seizure of the d'Anconia assets in Mexico, these mines would never yield productive ore. Dagny, who is revealed to know Francisco from the past, confronts him on this. Francisco reveals that he knew the mines were worthless but took joy in seeing the others, who only went along with the investments without doing any work themselves, lose their investments.

As Dagny and Hank continue work on the rebuilt Rio Norte line, they begin to notice talented people disappearing from the productive workforce. Despite their despair at seeing sucn talent vanish when it is needed most, they decide to persevere. At Hank's wedding anniversary, after being belittled by his wife Lillian, Hank meets Francisco d'Anconia. Francisco reminds him his family and their friends are only there on his goodwill and challenges Hank to ask why he puts up with it.

Dr. Robert Stadler of The State Science Institute, a government-sponsored think tank, puts out a report implying that Rearden Metal is dangerous. Dagny confronts Dr. Stadler but rather than giving a direct answer, he tells an anecdote of three former students of his and what became of them, and she leaves with no resolution. Taggart Transcontinental stock plummets as they were using Rearden Metal on their rebuilt line. Dagny decides to split off and form her own company to finish the rebuild of the Rio Norte line, renaming the line the John Galt Line ("Who is John Galt?" being a question regularly asked when something seems unanswerable.) Dagny is confronted by the head of the railroad engineers union refusing to allow his engineers to run on the untested metal, and she promptly defuses his argument by challenging him to sign a statement never to work the line if it proves successful.

In Washington, the growing influence of Wesley Mouch is seen in the passage of the Equalization of Opportunity Bill preventing an individual from owning more than one company. Hank Rearden is forced to sign over ownership rights to his ore, smelting and transportation concerns for the sake of holding onto Rearden Steel, his metal and to finishing the John Galt Line. As the line opens and commences its first run, the world watches as the train runs safely on the Rearden rail at 250 miles per hour with no problems. Hank and Dagny celebrate the success of the line with Ellis Wyatt at his home in Colorado who proudly proclaims that his oil extraction methods will save the nation. That night, Hank and Dagny realize their passionate love for one another and sleep together.

Hank and Dagny begin a search for an advanced motor that, if completed, could revolutionize the world. Upon travelling to Wisconsin to an abandoned motor factory, they discover the incomplete motor and some of the schematics. Realizing the genius of the mind who created this concept, they decide to search for the motor's inventor. After tracing down former owners, employees and family members, Dagny and Hank separate as Hank must return to his business. Dagny meets with Dr. Hugh Akston, a former colleague of Dr. Robert Stadler. He quickly realizes Dagny is seeking the inventor of the motor and tells her she will never find him.

Dagny's search is interrupted on news that Ellis Wyatt has vanished. While driving to Colorado to search for him, Dagny overhears news of yet another bill passed in Washington which limits rail freight and imposes a special tax on Colorado, supposedly for the benefit of the nation as a whole. Upon arriving at Wyatt's home, she sees his oil fields ablaze and Dagny screams out in despair that yet another great mind has disappeared. Apart from setting his oil fields on fire, Wyatt left a sign reading, "I am leaving it as I found it. Take over. It's yours." The film closes with an answering machine voice-over of Ellis Wyatt declaring that he is on strike.

Cast

See also: List of Atlas Shrugged characters

Production

Development

In 1972, Albert S. Ruddy approached Rand to produce a cinematic adaptation of Atlas Shrugged. Rand insisted on having final script approval, which Ruddy refused to give her, thus preventing a deal. In 1978, Henry and Michael Jaffe negotiated a deal for an eight-hour Atlas Shrugged television miniseries on NBC. Michael Jaffe hired screenwriter Sterling Silliphant to adapt the novel and he obtained approval from Rand on the final script. However, in 1979, with Fred Silverman's rise as president of NBC, the project was scrapped.[5]

Rand, a former Hollywood screenwriter herself, began writing her own screenplay, but died in 1982 with only one third of it finished. She left her estate, including the film rights to Atlas Shrugged, to her student Leonard Peikoff, who sold an option to Michael Jaffe and Ed Snider. Peikoff would not approve the script they wrote and the deal fell through. In 1992, investor John Aglialoro bought an option to produce the film, paying Peikoff over $1 million for full creative control.[5]

In 1999, under John Aglialoro's sponsorship, Albert Ruddy negotiated a deal with Turner Network Television for a four-hour miniseries, but the project was killed after the AOL Time Warner merger. After the TNT deal fell through Howard and Karen Baldwin obtained the rights while running Phillip Anschutz's Crusader Entertainment. The Baldwins left Crusader and formed Baldwin Entertainment Group in 2004, taking the rights to Atlas Shrugged with them. Michael Burns of Lions Gate Entertainment approached the Baldwins to fund and distribute Atlas Shrugged.[5] A two-part draft screenplay written by James V. Hart[6] was re-written into a 127-page screenplay by Randall Wallace, with Vadim Perelman expected to direct.[7] Potential cast members for this production had included Angelina Jolie,[8] Charlize Theron,[9] Julia Roberts,[9] Anne Hathaway,[9] Russell Crowe,[10] and Brad Pitt.[6] Between 2009 and 2010, however, these deals came apart, including studio backing from Lions Gate, and therefore none of the stars mentioned above appear in the final film, Wallace did not do the screenplay, and Perelman did not direct.[11][12]

Writing

In May 2010, Brian Patrick O'Toole and Aglialoro wrote a screenplay, intent on filming in June 2010. While initial rumors claimed that the films would have a "timeless" setting, later information revealed that they would instead be set in the year 2016, with a dystopian United States suffering economically amid greater calls for collectivism and government intervention.[citation needed] Other noted changes included reductions for some characters and side stories, such as that of Eddie Willers, and removal of others, such as that of composer Richard Halley.[citation needed]

Casting

Though director Johansson has been reported by various sources as playing the pivotal role of John Galt,[13] he made it clear in an interview that with regard to "who is John Galt" in the film, the answer was, "Not me."[3] He explained that his portrayal of the character would be limited to the first film as a silhouetted figure wearing a trenchcoat and fedora,[4] suggesting that another actor will be cast as Galt for the subsequent parts of the trilogy.

Filming

Though Stephen Polk was initially set to direct,[14] he was replaced by Paul Johansson nine days before filming was scheduled to begin. With the 18-year-long option to the films rights set to expire on June 15, 2010, producer Aglialoro began principal photography on June 13, 2010, thus managing to retain the rights. Shooting took five weeks, and the total production cost of the movie came in on a budget around US$10 million.[15]

Score

Elia Cmiral composed the score for the first film.[16]

Release

Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 was released on April 15, 2011. The initial release, in the United States, grew from an initially announced 54 screens to include 300 screens nationwide, classifying the film as a limited release.[17] The trailer was released on YouTube on February 11, 2011.[4]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes reports that 10% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on a count of 21 written reviews, with an average score of 3.6 out of 10.[18] Metacritic gives the film a "generally unfavorable" rating of 27%, as determined by averaging 15 professional reviews.[19] Roger Ebert gave the film only one star, calling it "the most anticlimactic non-event since Geraldo Rivera broke into Al Capone’s vault." He goes on, "So OK. Let’s say you know the novel, you agree with Ayn Rand, you’re an objectivist or a libertarian, and you’ve been waiting eagerly for this movie. Man, are you going to get a letdown. It’s not enough that a movie agree with you, in however an incoherent and murky fashion. It would help if it were like, you know, entertaining?"[20] Kyle Smith in the New York Post gave the film a mixed review, grading it at 2.5/4 stars, criticizing its "stilted dialogue and stern, unironic hectoring" and calling it "stiff in the joints", but also adding that it "nevertheless contains a fire and a fury that makes it more compelling than the average mass-produced studio item".[21] Vin Suprynowicz wrote in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "the resulting 'Atlas Shrugged' is, in the end, a pretty good movie".[22]

The Financial Times' Ed Crooks called the film "a faithful adaptation and most of its strengths and weaknesses are those of Rand herself," but notes "the dialogue often rings with Rand’s tin ear for the rhythms of normal speech," "the quality of the acting, by a cast of unknowns, is variable," and that, "in covering only the first part of the book, it does not make a great deal of sense."[23] Martin Fridson wrote in Barron’s magazine that the film was the "rarest of rare commodities" that offers "a tantalizing taste of the story's seductive power".[24] Jim Fink of the financial website Investing Daily described the film as "not only enjoyable, but loyal to Ayn Rand’s philosophy of individual freedom" and praised the film's acting calling it "excellent". Describing "the story compelling", he goes on, "the panoramic shots of trains hurtling through the American West (especially Colorado) were breathtakingly beautiful."[25] Libertarian commentator P.J. O'Rourke somewhat agreed, writing "There are many beautiful panoramas of the Rocky Mountains for no particular reason. And the movie’s title carries the explicit threat of a sequel. But I will not pan Atlas Shrugged. I don’t have the guts. If you associate with Randians—and I do—saying anything critical about Ayn Rand is almost as scary as saying anything critical to Ayn Rand."[26] On the other hand, The Wall Street Journal film critic Joe Morgenstern gave a negative review: "In terms of craftsmanship it's barely professional ... Don't hold your breath for parts 2 and 3."[27]

American economist Mark Skousen praised the film and wrote in the conservative magazine Human Events, "The script is true to the philosophy of Ayn Rand’s novel".[28]

Box Office

The film opened on 300 screens on April 15, 2011, and made $1,676,917 in its opening weekend, finishing in 14th place overall[29], but when compared on a per-screen basis, it finished 7th, with $5590 per screen.[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=atlasshrugged.htm
  2. ^ Britting, Jeff (2009). "Bringing Atlas Shrugged to Film". In Mayhew, Robert (ed.). Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-7391-2780-3.
  3. ^ a b Murty, Govindini (July 21, 2010). "EXCLUSIVE: LFM Visits the Set of Atlas Shrugged + Director Paul Johansson's First Interview About the Film". Libertas Film Magazine. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
  4. ^ a b c "Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 - Official Movie Trailer".
  5. ^ a b c Brown, Kimberly (January 14, 2007). "Ayn Rand No Longer Has Script Approval". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  6. ^ a b McClintock, Pamela (April 26, 2006). "Lionsgate Shrugging". Variety. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  7. ^ Fleming, Michael (September 4, 2007). "Vadim Perelman to direct 'Atlas'". Variety. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  8. ^ "Angelina Jolie set to star in Atlas Shrugged". Objectivistcenter.org. 2006-09-21. Retrieved 2009-09-12.[dead link]
  9. ^ a b c "Charlize Theron Could Topline Atlas Shrugged Mini-Series | /Film". Slashfilm.com. 2009-07-21. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  10. ^ Paris, Susan (February 25, 2008). "John Aglialoro on the Atlas Shrugged Movie". Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  11. ^ Zeitchik, Steven (April 1, 2009). "Shrugs over 'Atlas' are ending". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  12. ^ "IMDb:the Internet Movie Database". Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  13. ^ "Atlas Shrugged" (2011) Internet Movie Database.
  14. ^ Fleming, Mike (May 26, 2010). "'Atlas Shrugged' Rights Holder Sets June Production Start Whether Or Not Stars Align". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
  15. ^ Zader, Joshua (November 23, 2010). "John Aglialoro on the Atlas Shrugged Movie". Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  16. ^ Atlas Shrugged Movie: The First 10 Minutes
  17. ^ "Theaters & Tickets". Atlas Shrugged: Part I Official Web Site. 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Rotten Tomatoes
  19. ^ metacritic.com
  20. ^ Ebert, Roger (April 14, 2011). "Atlas Shrugged". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 16, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ Kyle Smith, Rand old time for Ayn adherents, New York Post, April 14, 2011.
  22. ^ Vin Suprynowicz, Sidestepping studios to bring 'Atlas Shrugged' to the big screen, Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 16, 2011.
  23. ^ "Ode to Ayn Rand captures her tone". Financial Times.
  24. ^ Martin Fridson, Big Novel Meets Big Screen, Barron’s, April 9, 2011.
  25. ^ Jim Fink, Atlas Shrugged Part 1: Ayn Rand's Polemic Against the Looter Society Investing Daily, April 15, 2011
  26. ^ "Atlas Shrugged. And So Did I." The Wall Street Journal.
  27. ^ "Animated 'Rio': A Witty Carnival of Brazil Nuts". The Wall Street Journal.
  28. ^ Mark Skousen, To Protest Tax Day, Go See "Atlas Shrugged" The Movie, Human Events, April 15, 2011.
  29. ^ the-numbers.com, The Numbers - US Movie Box Office Chart Weekend of April 15, 2011
  30. ^ boxofficemojo.com, Weekend Box Office Reults for April 15-17, 2011 - Box Office Mojo

External links

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