All language subtitles for The.Passion.of.Ayn.Rand.1999.716x480_1h44m28s_FPS29.97

On March 8th 1982, a line formed

Outside a funeral parlor
in New York City.

I stood there in the cold
with hundreds of people,

waiting to say good-bye
to an old woman

few of them had ever met.

Yet most of those people

would've said
she changed their lives.

I had been her closest friend,
and she mine,

but all of that ended
a long time ago.

The body will be on view
for the next two hours.

In the interest of others,
we ask that you keep

your time before the casket brief.

"In the interest of others."

Excuse me?

I don't think she
would've liked that.

Ma'am, we need
to keep moving.

The critics had called her
the leader of a cult,

a dangerous threat
to public morality.

Her name was Ayn Rand,

and I loved her.

Hello. I hope we're
in the right place.

Yes, she's expecting you.

Uh, are--are you Mr. Rand?

I suppose I am.
Hello.

I'm actually Frank O'Connor.
Please call me Frank.

This is right out of the book.

Well, they're here.

You are Nathaniel Blumenthal?

Yes.

And?

Barbara, Weidman.

Miss Rand, I --
I want to thank you

for-- for taking the time
to see us.

As you may recall
from my letter,

I have several specific
questions regarding

the philosophical and psychological
implications of your novels...

Tell me your principles.

To think for myself.

To reach my own conclusions.

To seek truth,
wherever it might lead.

And Barbara Whiteman,

what do you have
to say for yourself?

Miss Rand, uh, I picked up
the Fountainhead

when I graduated
high school.

I read it in one night.

It changed my life.

Do you see, Frank?

See these two...

Beautiful young people
who have come to our house.

Come in, come in, sit.

Wow. Can you believe it?

It happened, but I --

we spent the whole night
talking to Ayn Rand!

Yes!

Oh. I feel as if...

As if my whole life I've been on a
leaky raft in the middle of the ocean,

and as soon as I cover one leak
with my foot, there's another...

Alone and sinking.
Yes, yes.

But after tonight,
I think...

It's possible to stand
on solid ground,

to understand, to really know!

Yeah, the way
she looked at me?

Mm-hmm.

I felt she saw everything
all at once.

I almost wanted to cry.

Why?

I don't know.
I felt relieved and safe.

I felt--
we should quit school.

Nothing here comes close
to her. Let's quit.

Nathan!
I mean it.

I can't believe I have
philosophy in three hours.

You think you'll get in trouble
for being out so late?

I'll think of something.

Barbara.
Nathan...

No, no, no.
I just wanted to say

this was... well...

This was the first day
of my life

that actually mattered,

and I can't think
of anyone else

I'd rather share it with.

No one else
would've understood,

and, well, that's all.

I think you're brilliant,
Nathan, you know that?

No one's like you.

Good night.

Good night.

Good morning.

Thank you.

I need to be able to show
why something's right or wrong.

I hate giving in when I know

there's something different...
Or better.

I need to be able
to prove it.

It's no good otherwise,
is it?

Sit here.

Pretty girl.

Do you make love
with Nathaniel?

No.

Barbara, you must tell me.

Otherwise, how can I help you
with this confusion?

I love him,
but I'm not in love.

We don't make love.
It's not about that.

You don't like to make love?

I didn't say that.

You respect his intellect?

Very much.

You share the same principles?

Absolutely.

You accept that emotion
ultimately derives

from the thinking
one has done

or has failed to do?

I do.

Then there is only one
possibly conclusion.

Nathan is your ideal man.

Your mind already knows this.

Your feelings must
follow that logic.

What if logic
wasn't involved?

I can explain every emotion
I have ever had,

because this is
the foundation, you see?

Otherwise, conflict in all
other parts of your life.

Do you know
who you remind me of?

No.

Myself.

I know what kind of injustice

an intellectual young girl
has to suffer.

But I will see
that no harm comes to you.

You watch, you listen,

the world seems so confusing,
inconsistent... people...

You want clarity,
you want coherence,

you want to know greatness.

Yes.

Then you must be ruthless
in your search,

starting here.

Promise you won't
disappoint me.

I promise.

I'm not doing anything
other businessmen aren't doing.

You call yourself
a capitalist?

I call myself a businessman.

Here you are.
Just the way I like 'em.

Let's go find mine.
These people, who are they?

Hollywood retired
republican league.

Really?
No, just fooling.

He owns a chain of laundromats.

He makes airplane parts.

You haven't met Alfred yet,

but I'm sure you
remember Nathaniel.

She's, uh, trying to get
them to put their money

where their mouths are.

The newsletter.
A what?

A philosophical newsletter
for the common man.

We discussed it.

Uh, you and her?

Mm-hmm.

Now, where did she find you?

I wrote her a letter

and included my phone number.

She called you?

Huh. You know about the book?

What book?

The new book.
Do you know about it?

It's gonna be enormous
and brilliant.

The Fountainhead will
look like a footnote.

What is it?

Atlas Shrugged.

Atlas?
Atlas Shrugged.

Yeah, but what's it about?

It's, uh...
Well, I don't know.

I haven't read...

She hasn't finished
writing it yet, but I...

She, uh, called you?

A screenwriter is...
Is an employee.

You're bought and paid for,
is that what you're telling me?

Unlike you, I'm not
in a position

to make any demands.
Maybe after I...

So, Alfred, on your
next picture, they say,

"we want you to write a script
about a greedy industrialist,

"about the nobility
of failure,

about little people banding
together," and you don't.

In spite of all
I have said to you,

you will do it, because
you're just an employee.

Is that what
you're telling me?

Any, every day, I'm racked
with tremendous guilt.

You know that.

What?

I admit I feel guilt.

Uh, would anybody
like a nightcap?

No, I think i'd
better go. It's...

Long drive home.

Well, what do we think of Alfred?

He seems conflicted

Between his needs
and his values.

He's weak.
Ah!

Oh! Terrible disappointment.

I understand
there's a new book.

No, it's not a book yet.

Would it be possible
to see some of it?

Why should I possibly
show it to you?

Well, because I'd be
your best reader

and your most honest critic.

Come along.

Oh, cock-a-doodle-doo.

Nobody here, but us chickens.

Uhh!

Ahh! Uh...

Ahh. Oh, I love you.

Oh, I really...

I really love you.

I love you too.

Nathaniel Branden,

will you take Barbara Weidman,
here present,

as your lawful wife?

I will.

Barbara Weidman,
will you take Nathaniel Branden,

here present,
as your lawful husband?

I will.

You may now exchange
the rings.

By the power and authority
vested by law,

as a clerk of the state
of California,

I now pronounce you
man and wife.

Thank you for the beautiful flowers, Frank.
That's what I do best.

So, Mr. Branden.
Yes. Do you like it?

A new man needs
a new name, yes?

So many new things,
Nathan...

New bride, new city, new life.

New York.

We'll miss you.

You will?

Yes. It will be like...

Like shutting off a light.

Maybe you'll find
another light.

That's not possible.

No.

Music was always my pleasure

when I was a child
in St. Petersburg.

I almost wore out
the phonograph

playing my tiddlywink music.

"It's a long way to Tipperary,"

"Come on, get happy."

A little girl dancing
around and around my room.

And my mother saying,

"why do you listen
to such nonsense?

"Bach, Mozart,
Beethoven if you must,

"but this? Such a--
such a bright mind,

Alice, and such
terrible taste."

But this was mine, you see,

my discovery, my joy,

and this they could
not take away from me.

Those Soviets.

They took away
everything else.

The phonograph, the house.

The phonograph was
in my life in that house.

But not what was mine.

That I would not surrender,

the idea of joy.

Because if--

if I could hear it
in the music,

then it had to exist...
Somewhere.

Would you like
to dance, Ayn?

We'll miss you.

It'll be like
shutting off a light.

You must go to New York.

You must drive
your professors mad

with the logic
of your arguments,

and you must become
a brilliant psychologist.

Then I will tell the world

this is the man I have chosen
to carry on my work...

This new man.

Frank.

Fluff, look, the hyacinths.

I've always had such trouble
with them here in California.

Looks like we'll
have a bloom soon.

I love the fragrance--

Frank, I can't work
here anymore.

What do you mean?

Here, in Los Angeles.

Where could you work?

New York.
I-I need to be in New York,

for myself, for Atlas Shrugged,
for my work.

I need the achievements
of man around me,

not all the palm trees
and hot dog stands.

No, no, New York.
New York is where we belong.

Near Nathan and Barbara.

They'll be there, yes.

Ayn...

I love this place.

Frank, Frank.

Be a hero for me... again.

Not so gently.

Must you always
ask my permission?

I must continue querying.

Hello.

I must work to resolve
my unidentified problems.

Oh, great!
No, no, of course not.

I must learn to respond
to Nathaniel...

Well, whenever's
convenient.

...as I should...

You sure you're
not too exhausted?

Great. We-we'll
be right over. Bye-bye.

...as I want.

Well, they're finally here.

She wants to see us now.

What about our classes?

Nathan!

Oh! After one hour here,
I feel more stimulations

Than after eight years
in California.

And Frank feels the same way,
don't you, Cubby?

it's certainly different.

And atlas?
Not much longer.

When I'm done, they are
going to want my head.

Oh, I think the left's
just afraid of you.

Ha! I don't care about them.

No, no, it's the Conservatives
I can't stand,

with their Sunday sermon mentality

and their thick little skulls.

Then what are you?
Me? I'm alone.

No. No, I am a radical
for capitalism...

And this is my flag.

Is the marriage working?

I think we're improving.
We are.

And now that
you're here, maybe...

Are you happy?

Well... that's
a difficult question.

Nathan, you are
a heroic being.

To be happy is the moral
purpose of your life.

Yes, I know.
I know, but Barbara...

She needs someone
to guide her to herself.

She's aware of the problem,

and I've been trying
to help her.

The man must have
the woman who reflects

his deepest vision
of himself,

and in her surrender
is his happiness.

And the woman?

Must worship the hero.

Is that how you feel
about Frank?

Yes, of course.

Do you love me, Barbara?

Of course.

Why can't you show it, then?

I'm trying to.
I'm getting better, aren't I?

I--i think I am.
I'm just...

Not in the mood.

No, I'm not.

You expect so much from me.

I feel I'm always being
held up to some ideal--

I suppose I'm not.

What were you talking
about with Ayn?

Her book, my psychology classes.

Told her about David and Aaron.

She actually made a joke.

Said that we should get
together Saturday night

and call ourselves
a collective.

Did you talk about me?

Nathan, did you talk
about me?

What do you want
to know, Barbara?

Did you discuss our problems
with someone outside our marriage?

Our problems?
You mean our anxieties?

Our low self-esteem,

our hating sex
with our husband?

What a happy fucking home.

Nathan and Barbara have told me
that all of you agree

with my concept
of self-interest.

Yes.
Absolutely.

Could you tell us why
you call it selfishness?

Yes, of course,
on the premise that,

if this be treason,
make the most of it.

Mm?

Let's make that coffee.

...a painter should be
more interested in architecture

instead of landscape?

Can you grow hyacinths
in New York?

No, nature is wonderful...

People seem able
to do anything here.

But what can
approach the exultation

Of observing some
of man's greatest work,

his skyscrapers,
for example, the railway...

You have a gift, Frank.
You should use it.

A gift for flowers
and painting.

Not much like
Howard roark, is it?

...physical circumstances
that surround us.

But, ayn, you've said
that banks are not

To be chartered. Why not?
It seems perfectly reasonable.

I am the man
who does not sacrifice

His love or his values.

I am the man who has deprived
you of victims

and has thus destroyed
your world.

And if you wish to know
why you are perishing,

you who dread knowledge...

I am the man
who will now tell you...

I am the man
who will now tell you...

I-I am the man
who will now tell you...

Nathan? Frank insists
I take a break from work.

He wants to look
at bare trees and snow.

You can't give up.
It's too important.

To whom?
To everyone.

I don't care
about everyone.

Well, then, to me.

Nathan? Come on!
Give it a try!

Oh, don't be absurd.

Sometimes I-I think
I'm never going
to finish this book.

You can't think
like that, you can't.

Ayn, I refuse to sit here

and let one of the most important
thinkers of our time pretend that--

what?

Oh...
What is it?

So wonderfully young.

Oh, don't condescend
to me, please.

No, dear Nathan,
I am not doing that.

I-I know what it is
to doubt myself.

But you have no reason to.

I do. What--
what have I done?

What have I done,
argue with my teachers?

Anyone can do that.

What does that amount to,
compared to you?

Nathan, you are
a genius.

I knew this
the first time I met you,

and I do not pass
this judgment lightly.

You're the only person
who sees the best in me.

No. No.
Not the only.

The first.

Just the first
to know you.

I think you know we all had
a wonderful time last week,

and if you don't mind,
ideally, we'd like

to make it a once-a-week event,
meeting and talking.

Yes. That's a brilliant idea.

Since we all met through
reading the Fountainhead,

you could even call
us the class of '43.

Good night.

Well, good night.

She's in love with you.

What?

And you're in love with her!

Aren't you!
Aren't you!

For god's sake, Barbara,
you're not serious.

The gall to tell me that I don't
give you what you want

what you need.

Why don't you just do it to her right
in front of me, you goddamn--

Stop it! You don't know what
you're talking about.

Don't I?

Listen, she is 25 years
older than I am.

I-I admire her, yes.
I respect--

I saw you!

What did you see?

I talked to her, is that it?

You saw her giving
me support.

My god, if we can't
expect that from Ayn,

what are we devoting
ourselves to?

Do you want
to be that alone?

Do you?

I can't think.

Of course
you can think.

You just can't control
your emotions.

Listen, honey,
I am in love with you.

I want to have a life
with you.

I'm trying...
So hard, Nathan.

Every day.

I'm trying to be what you want.

I know.
I know.

It's breaking me.
I can't anymore.

It's all right.
I can't.

It's all right. Shh.

Good.

Do you understand
what has happened?

I do.

Well, don't you want to say
something about it?

Uh... I --

wasn't sure about...

Well, what the best way
to handle the situation was.

Have I misunderstood
everything?

No, you haven't.

I love you.

Do you understand
the consequences

of what you're saying?

Do you understand
how serious this is, son?

I understand.

And you're not afraid?

No. I'm not.

I love you.

Oh! Oh, there, I've said it.

Oh...

I love you.

This does not change
what I feel about Frank.

Of course not.

No.

First...

We must tell them.

This is not a threat to you.

Our affair will be
something separate,

apart from you
and our normal lives.

If the four of us
were lesser people,

we could never accept this.

Lesser people
could never accept it,

but we are not
lesser people.

Our rules are different.

I know your intelligence.

I know you hold no value
higher than reason.

Reason, after all,
is what drew us together.

You know what I am.

You know what Nathan is.

By the logic of what
love and sex means,

this had to happen.

We ask your permission.

We ask that you return to us

the love that we feel for you.

No.

No.

I will not be part
of this...

This insanity.

Frank--

Barbara.

You know what you are to me.

But Ayn is right.

We have to work this out.

Frank!

Frank.

Frank?

DeMille's The King of Kings.

The silent one.
The great one.

That's where we met.

We were extras standing around
the back lot in togas.

I didn't know
you were an actor.

Neither did anybody
else in Hollywood.

Alice.

Alice Rosenbaum.

She'd just fled Russia.

Changed her name.

Ayn. A-y-n.

Ayn Rand.

She had a typewriter...

A Remington Rand.

Crazy about movies.

Came right up to me and said,

"you are the embodiment
of my ideal man."

I never had a chance.

The ideal man.

Whenever she'd say it,
I felt like a fool.

But I thought she loved me.

I thought that was real.

And if she had to see
me in a certain way,

I...

Will you leave her?

Got no money.
No profession.

It's all hers.

I'm 54.

Where would I go?

What would I do?

I don't have a choice.

You do, Barbara.

Do you think she's right?

Right?

About...

The logic of
the two of them?

It's always logical.

Uh-huh.

I won't be a lesser person.

I can't.

I can't.

How long do you want?

No more than one year.

What are the arrangements?

Nathaniel and I will meet here

one afternoon
and one evening a week.

Is that acceptable?

We agree.

Cubby...

Are you hungry?

I'm fine.

No, no, don't be silly.
Let me make you something.

You know you're
a lousy cook, Ayn.

I don't want you
getting sick.

You should be working.

What I said two days ago
I believe to be true.

Clearly, you and Ayn know me
better than I know myself.

I see now I have to become
more rigorous about my emotions.

I still love you, Barbara.

You understand that, don't you?

Uh!

This is John Galt speaking.
Ohh!

I am the man
who will now tell you.

You have heard it said
this is an age of moral crisis.

You have said it yourself,
half in fear...

...destroying the world.

You have cursed human nature
for its unwillingness

to practice independence..

Mm.

You have demanded
more sacrifices

at each successive disaster.

Happiness is
not to be achieved

at the command
of emotional whims.

In the name of a return
to morality,

you have sacrificed...

Oh...

Aah! Ooh...

You have sacrificed self-esteem
to self-denial.

You have sacrificed
happiness to duty.

You have sacrificed
wealth to need.

Why is it moral to serve
the happiness of others

but not your own?

The world is not
the product of your sins.

It is the product
of your virtues.

You have fought for it,
and i--

I am the man who has
granted you your wish.

Oh!

Define social metaphysics.

Essentially it's a concept of--

oh, very good, David,
but not now. Caroline.

Um.

It means to...

To look to other people
for a sense of my worth.

As opposed to?

My own objective reality.

I don't do that?

You felt forced
to agree with the professor,

Even though you despised
his politics.

mm, perfect.

He's the head
of my department.

You told David
that you despise him,

and yet you're terrified
he won't approve of you.

You've tied your self-esteem
to the opinions of other people,

despite all our discussions.

He could damage my career.

And that's all
you can think of?

I want to be a teacher.
I want to help people.

Ah!

The mask of altruism.

"Oh, not for me, no.
I exist for others.

Not for me, no, no.
Admire me for my goodness."

That's not what I think.

Ayn, Nathaniel,

I don't believe that.
I--

I believe--

I don't know.

Let's move on
to something else.

Barbara, please.

You see your error,

and you want to rid
yourself of it?

Yes! Yes,
it's too much confusion.

Nathaniel?

Well, it will take time,
but I'm prepared to help.

I want to change...
Whatever it takes.

Good.

Barbara also is experiencing
some difficulties.

Ayn. Please don't.

Nathaniel and I
are very concerned

about physical attacks
she's experiencing.

We feel that the real basis
is emotional.

These attacks
come from anxiety,

the conflict between
"I must" and "I can't,"

between an individual's values
and what she feels.

That's perfectly stated.

Barbara, I have watched you
with this conflict for years.

I have seen you struggle
with the error that causes it.

What error?
This is emotionalism.

Can you define it, Ayn?

Yes, the belief that reality

should be subservient
to my desires--

to a person's desires.

There are two different kinds
of emotionalists--

emotionalists by error
and emotionalists by evasion.

Well, I think we have
enough for tonight.

We are trying to help you to get
to the root of things. It's never easy.

Ruthless.
What?

You have to be,
in here.

Take a cab home,
please.

You're staying.

That's three nights this week.

It's the book. She's had a
very rough stretch.

I've never seen
her this tense.

Then you have to stay.

Barbara, do you think that I want
to stay for three nights a week?

I'll go.
No, let me call you a cab.

I'm fine.
N--

thank you very much.
I really--

Nathan...

Our relationship is sexual
or it's nothing.

If we are just
disembodied minds,

then everything is meaningless.

You better get that.

Hello?

Hello?

Who's there?

Ayn...

I'm so sorry.

Barbara?

I-I can't see.
My mind...

My mind's collapsing.

I need to talk.

Can I please come over?

Now? Please.

Ayn, are you there?

I'm here.

Would you mind
if I came over?

How dare you.

What?

Do you think
only of yourself?

Am I completely
invisible to you?

This is your problem.

You call here when you know
that this is our time.

Your wants, your needs,
your emotions.

Is that all
you care about?

This is loathsome.
Must you--?

I have never asked
anyone for help.

Do you have
no sense of self?

No, don't dream
of coming here!

You all right in there?

I need to talk.

Who the hell are you?

Shh.

I don't think she could've
made it home by herself.

She's never been
this bad before.

You know about this?

Yeah, it's
a chronic condition.

Something being done?

I'm treating her.
How?

I'm a psychologist.

Hmm.

Are you in the medical
profession?

No, I'm a musician.
Trumpeter.

Well. Thanks so much
for your help.

Yeah, Richard Folger.
I'm in the book.

Well, I doubt we'll be
needing any trumpet lessons,

but if we do...

You never know.

I've not been this unhappy
since I was a child.

Then I used to look
out the window

and calm down
by staring at the stars.

Go on.

Everything's gone.

I know I still care
what other people think.

I know I am guilty
of social metaphysics.

And I know my wish
to correct my thinking...

Comes from a desire
to please Nathan,

who I respect tremendously.

And I know that that desire...

is very, very, very, very wrong.

I don't know
what I want anymore.

I'm afraid to care
about anything.

Nothing seems to matter...

And I'm...

afraid of the day it will.

Caroline.

The, uh, purpose
of these talks is not to...

To, uh...

Well, I don't mean
to make you feel this way.

I do admire you.

I can't help it.

Oh. I thought you'd be done.

Hi. We are for today.

Hi, Caroline, how are you?

I'm well, thank you.
How are you?

Good. Here for dinner?

You want some coffee?

Uh, no. Thank you.

In that case,
I'm off to the movies.

Enjoy yourself. Ayn!

Frank, don't go yet.

What's wrong?

I finished the book.

After 12 years.

I finished the book!

Well.

My goodness.

Congratulations, Fluff.
Long time coming.

If the two of us
can't afford a decent dinner

On a $50,000 advance
for the book,

we need to have
our heads examined.

Here.

Thinking about the book,
what it meant to me, to us.

So I did that.

Frank, it's perfect.

It's perfect. This--

this is going to be
the cover of the book.

You do understand me,

don't you, Cubby?

Yeah. Oh! Shoo!

Madame, monsieur,
welcome.

Monsieur O'Connor,
we have the private room ready.

This way, please.

Cubby, what wickedness
are you planning?

Well, well, Fluff
you'll just have to wait

and see what I've
planned for you tonight.

Oh!
Surprise! Surprise!

Congratulations, Ayn.

Ayn, uh ...

This is from all of us.

Atlas Shrugged.

Congratulations.

I do not like surprises!

...she said, as usual,

"Frank is the power
behind the throne."

Sometime I think
I am a throne,

the way I get sat on.

Frank...

Roosevelt had
a permanent halo around him,

you know, a savior
to the working class.

They can't even--
they can't even be sure--

...a command to rise.

She's a command to rise.

I wish Nathaniel
would give us some privacy.

I mean, it doesn't
make sense.

He's constantly urging you
to bare your soul

so he can help you
psychologically,

but I would like
to get on with life

instead of, essentially,
gazing at my navel.

...but as far as travel
is concerned,

I think the place
I'd most like to go would be...

Oh, the far east first. I hear it's
absolutely beautiful. Have you ever been?

No, I haven't.
Did you see it?

Not yet, but I'm planning
to see it next week.

A completely corrupt film,
totally based

on this unexplained
Christian guilt-based ethic.

So you wouldn't recommend it?

Oh, I enjoyed it
on the plot level.

Have you seen Sayonara?

No.

If you read
exactly what is written...

Seven years ago,

I had the great fortune

to meet an individual

that I did not think
could actually exist...

Not as I imagined her.

That meeting proved
how much I had to learn.

I could not have asked
for a better teacher.

To heroes...

In fiction and in life.

Heroes.
Heroes.

Speech!
Speech!

Please.

Speech!
Speech!

I suppose I'm expected
to say something significant.

Always.

This book took 12 years
to write,

and it challenges the cultural
traditions of 2,000 years,

so I don't expect
anyone to be grateful--

You're wrong, Ayn,
it's gonna change

America's way of thinking.

No, I will have
an influence one day...

But not,
I think, in my lifetime.

However, I have had the fortune

to know heroes
and heroines in my life.

My husband, Frank.

My good friend, Barbara.

And my intellectual heir,
Nathaniel Branden.

Thank you.

Oh, and, uh...

Thank you very much
for this lovely party,

but please, don't
do it again.

I hate parties.

Is everything all right, sir?

You bet.

Some more... cognac
would be perfect.

Right away, sir.

Whew.

Frank?

Frank?

Are you all right?

I must be making
a phone call...

Which is odd, because
I don't know anybody.

Let's get some air.

Frank, I'm sorry...

For all this.

I am too, Nathan.

I'm really very sorry...
For you.

I do not exist
for other people.

I must not rely
on other people.

I... must...

Identify the origins
of my emotions.

I must establish
a rational...

I can't.

I'm sorry.

Can't what?

I can't stop
thinking about you.

I tried.

I can't.

This can never happen.

Ugh.

You're so...

Branden.

Oh!

What's the rational
basis of sex?

I don't know.

Oh, something you don't know?

More than you realize.

What if she finds out?

Who?

Barbara.

I don't know that, either.

Hello?

I have another
philosophic question.

Richard...

You recognized my voice.

I do by now.

Well, that's a good sign.

Um, uh, medically speaking.

What's the question?

Peripatetic.

It's Greek.
It means to walk around.

Aristotle founded
the peripatetic school.

They walked around Athens
discussing rhetoric,

ethics, the nature of reality.

Uh-huh. So, would that
fly in Manhattan?

She fled communist Russia
in 1926,

blew up housing for the poor
in 1943 in a novel,

and now she's telling us
what's wrong with america

in 1957,

and a lot of people are saying

something's wrong with her.

Ayn Rand.
Atlas Shrugged.

A big book.
A big theme.

What's it about?

Simply put, the mind on strike.

Whose mind?

The minds that matter.

Scientists, inventors,

artists, industrialists,

the motor that runs the world.

I show what happens
when that motor stops.

And what's that?

Chaos, both spiritual
and physical.

Is that a surprise?

It is to a world
that enslaves them.

Enslaves industrialists. How?

By a morality that requires
a man's efforts

benefit everyone, but himself.

Mm. You've been
called a fascist.

I abhor fascism.
I abhor the use of force.

What do you love?

Reason. Heroism.

The luminous potential
of man.

"Execrable claptrap."

I beg your pardon?

The reviews.

"Outpouring of hate,"

"longer than life
and twice as preposterous,"

"crack-brained..."
they go on and on.

"Applauds the destruction
of the weak

to the advantage
of the strong."

"Rand is arguing
for a dictatorship."

No, I am fighting
a dictatorship,

a dictatorship
of self-sacrifice,

of collectivism--

you seem to have
a lot of enemies.

In the world the way it is
today, that is a compliment.

Twelve years, Frank.

I'll never be able to...

Never again.

I don't have it in me.

I gave my life
to this book...

And I achieved
something new.

I achieved...

And so books are printed
and critics tell their lies.

And no one speaks out
to defend me, no one.

No one, not to even
say I exist.

As if I was invisible.

Nathaniel's here now.

Sorry I'm late.

My session ran over.

How do you feel today?

Oh, my back,
my shoulders...

Come here.

When did we last
make love, Nathan?

Would you like to now?

You got another delivery
of fan mail.

That's like over
2,000 letters this week.

I've been thinking about
how we can capitalize on it,

and I'd like to try something,
if it's all right with you.

Now you--

you wouldn't
have to do a thing.

Just give me your blessing.

We do not Grant to anyone--
the state, the collective,

an elite, the masses,
the needy, the successful,

the whole population
of the earth--

ownership over our lives.
If you gave four people

the assignment to solve
a certain problem,

you probably would find
they try to do so

In vastly different ways...

our lives belong to us,
to each man

and each woman individually,
to be lived

as reason directs
in service of our own happiness.

I'll take questions now,
unless...

Mrs. Branden, I enjoyed
your lecture so much,

I think I'll join you.

Excuse me, Miss Rand,

I was wondering
if you could give us

the essence of your philosophy
standing on one leg.

Go on with ya!
Sit down!

Metaphysics:
Objective reality.

Epistemology:
Reason.

Ethics: Self-interest.
Politics: Capitalism.

Thank you very much.
Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Rand.
Thank you very much.

That was
a fascinating lecture.

Thank you.
I was wondering if you could tell me

what happens when a person
doesn't speak English.

If they're discussing
matters of love, let's say,

how do they know
what the other is saying...

If they don't actually
speak English?

How can they communicate?

What do they do then?

If-- if the solver...

My apartment.

Thank you.

My bookcase.

My closet.

My lamp.
My television.

My fireplace.

My record player.

Can you dance to this?

Unless you're Amish.

This is, um...

It's very peripatetic.

I can't stay.

It's all right.

Spoke to the publisher today.

They're starting
their fourth printing.

The book is flying
off the shelves.

Never seen anything like it,
especially after those reviews.

Have you told Ayn?
She won't listen.

She keeps saying we're in the
last days of the Roman Empire.

Listen to this one.

"Dear Miss Rand.

"Last night, I finished your book.

This morning, I announced my
resignation from rabbinical college."

I want to discuss something.

Uh-huh?

You once asked my permission
to change a relationship.

I gave it.

I accepted
that it was necessary,

maybe inevitable.

Now, I'd like you
to do the same for me.

With who?

Richard Folger.

You're joking.
No.

The notion's absurd.

I didn't ask your opinion.
I asked your consent.

My consent? That's ridiculous.
Why bother?

Because if anything's
left between us,

I hoped it might be honesty.

Well, then, honestly,
let's re-examine

your perpetual need
to degrade yourself...

That is--
and me.

Do you ever think about that?

More than you know.

Oh. I see.
I see.

It's my fault
you have no responsibility.

Barbara, can't you see
you are still retreating?

If we were discussing someone
even close to an intellectual equal--

like Caroline.

Is she smarter
with her clothes off?

And now we add paranoia
to our repertoire.

You're attracted
to her, aren't you?

I am teaching her.

Barbara, I know we're all
in a difficult situation.

I can't stop you from doing
what you want to do.

But I can't give my consent.

Not to something that mocks

everything we've devoted
ourselves to.

Did you say anything
about Caroline to Ayn?

That was a good meal.
Yeah.

Little spicy maybe, but...

You gonna come up?
Hey, Richard.

West 25th.

You know, Barbara,
I thought, um...

I don't know.

We could be happy together.

It's not that hard.

Right, but you don't think
that matters, huh?

It matters.

Then why are we doing this?

Good evening.

You know those books?

I liked them.
They were good stories.

And it'd be nice to know
you were a genius...

You didn't owe
anything to anybody.

You'd always explain
yourself to yourself,

always be right, but
life's not like that.

It could be.

I hope it is.

For you.

Good night.

'Night.

It's about time we told her.

I can't jeopardize
the institute right now.

It's mine, my name.

I can't imagine how
Ayn would take it.

She, uh...

Brought Barbara and I
together.

We're kind of living
proof of her work.

She...

She can be
very easily upset.

What am I to you, Nathan?

Well, I would say
you're my worst student.

You're ashamed of me.

You're about the only thing
that I'm not ashamed of.

I love you.

I just wish
we could tell her.

I know.

I wish we could too.

In 1951, I swore
I would never again

return to Los Angeles.

I considered it a swamp
of moral equivocation

and of mindlessness.

Happily, there has been
some kind of progress

in the last 13 years.
But--

but not in other places.

"Ask not what your country
can do for you,

but what you can do
for your country."

So said our late president.

But that sentiment was popular

in another country
at another time.

Nazi Germany, 1933.

The demand is the same,

whether it is called
the third reich

or the new frontier.

The individual must sacrifice
himself to the state.

Jack Kennedy was
not Adolf Hitler.

You don't care
if the poor starve.

Ayn, tell them. Tell them that
free enterprise creates jobs.

It's statism
that starves everyone.

That is not true.
There's gotta be somebody--

you're preaching selfishness.
That's all it is.

This country took you in
and gave you refuge.

Don't you feel
you owe it anything?

Yes, of course I do,
and I have given it.

I have given it
everything I have--

my work, my books, my life.

So did Karl Marx.

What he did for communism,
I do for capitalism.

We'll talk about it
afterwards.

Good. Now-- now we are
beginning a discussion.

So. More discussion.

You see the audiences
you're capable of drawing?

Maybe they think
I'm Dietrich.

There's an enormous number
of people out there

who are interested
in hearing your ideas,

despite what
the press says.

These people are looking
for some direction.

If we can marshal
them somehow-- what?

To be back in California,

after so much time,
with Nathaniel...

And still, he is so young.

I'm not...
Not that young anymore.

Waiter?
I'll be right with you.

Oh, I wanted to discuss
the possibility

of the institute printing
some of your early stories.

I'm starting
a publishing division.

So much business.
Well, yes.

Yes, I don't want
to lose an opportunity,

not when people's minds are finally--
I've missed you.

I haven't gone anywhere.

I wonder.

I feel as if I'm waking up
from a long sleep.

I don't think things
are the same between us.

I think about you every day.

As a colleague?
No.

As a teacher?
An old woman?

I think of us
in bed together.

I think of making
love with you.

Ayn, please understand.

I feel about you
the way I always have.

What is the problem?

Barbara.

I thought she
could change, but...

The marriage is falling apart,

and it's draining
everything out of me.

And you don't tell me this?

I didn't want to burden you.

Nathan, I love you.

I want to help you
in your trouble,

help you to free yourself.

I-I don't think that's possible.

Of course it is possible.

Just--

don't hide from me.

Miss Rand?

I'm just getting
off shift, um...

So sorry to bother you.

I have to tell you,
your book's changed my life.

I was wondering
if you could sign.

You have pen?

Uh...

Here.

Thank you.
Could we order?

Nathan, no matter what happens,

I give no one
the power to hurt me.

No, no, no.
Today. Sorry.

Janet, send out those minutes?

No, I'll get right on it.

This is the Nathaniel
Branden Institute.

Yes.

No, this is
the Branden Institute.

No, sir, this is not
a farm-style dancing school.

No, I'm sorry,
I don't even know what--

thanks. Bye.

Hello. UCLA?
This is Caroline Kelly.

I'm calling on behalf of the
Nathaniel Branden institute.

You'd expressed interest
in a series of lectures?

Mm-hmm. Yes.
Yes, he's wonderful.

Um, so, when do you think

you'd like to have him
come and lecture for you?

How long have you been
sleeping with her?

A long time.

And you tell me now?

I'm sick of hearing myself lie.

You called Richard
an... unacceptable

compromise of my principles.

What are your principles, Nathan?

Do you have any?

What do you want to do?

Find another apartment.

Contact a lawyer.
Get a divorce.

Why did we marry, Nathan?

Do you remember?

A vision of...
Something heroic.

Wouldn't that have been nice.

Hello, Barbara.
Come on in.

She's in her office there.

It's Icarus.

You can see the wings here.

And he's-- he's just plunged
straight through the--

the-- um-- the light.

You will never again publish a book of mine.
Uh, the yellow light.

The sun.

Yeah, but it's okay.

He's all right, you see.

He's come through all right.

Barbara! Oh, Barbara!
And he's gonna be okay.

Thank goodness you called.

You are the only sane person
I can talk to.

It's Nathan.
I don't--

I don't understand him anymore.

He's being so difficult.

I mean, he says he
can't live without me,

but then the next day,
i-- oh...

I don't know.

You think because he doesn't
break it off with me,

he still loves me?
Is that possible?

Can we go and talk privately?

Suppose a man who passionately
loves his wife

And is spending a fortune to
cure her of a dangerous illness

is asked to let her die in order to
spend that money to save ten other women.

That would be
a selfless sacrifice,

and that's
the clearest difference

between objectivism
and altruism.

Miss Rand would like
to see you immediately.

Excuse me.

No, not in my living room.
Sit there.

Do you understand
what you've done?

Do you know
what you've thrown away?

Me. Without me, you're nothing!

Nothing!

It was my life,
my work, my mind!

And you reject me,

the woman you said
you couldn't live without,

your highest value, you said.

I gave you my love.

I gave you my name.

I offered you the world!

I'm sorry,

but I love her.

You rotten hypocrite,

you lying, corrupt mediocrity!

You-- you should have
loved me, goddamn you!

Goddamn you!

Goddamn you!

Get out.

Good-bye, Ayn.

I'm very tired.

Ayn...

No, I'll, uh...

I'll decide later.

Do you need me?

I don't need anyone.

I've taken actions
that I know to be wrong.

I have failed to practice
the principles that I teach.

Ayn Rand gave me free use
of her work and her name,

and I have defaulted
on that trust.

My relationship
with Miss Rand...

Has been severed,

as is her moral right.

What does he mean?
I don't know.

What's he talking about?
I have no idea what's going on.

This break should
in no way affect

your support of objectivism,

a philosophy should
not be judged

by the behavior
of its teachers.

I...

I hereby resign
from the institute

and all its operations.

What on earth is he saying?

Nathan...

Nathan, stop.
What the hell is going on?

I'm free.

I'm free.

Shh. Shh.

I've gone over the figures
with the accountant.

The institute can function
without Nathan's participation.

We've drawn up
a three-year plan.

I don't want to see it.

Ayn, for the institute
to continue, we have to--

nothing with that hypocrite's
name will be allowed to exist.

He will be stripped
of everything he has taken.

He will be exposed
and humiliated.

Then let him wander the world
as the nonentity he is.

He's writing a book,

an objectivist perspective
on psychology.

A plagiarism of me,
isn't it?

New American library
wants it.

He will never be published!
I will break his contract.

He will vanish!

Thief bastard!

Spineless...
Stop it!

Stop it!

You can't go on like this.

He's lost his friends.

He's lost his work.

It's punishment enough, Ayn.

Do you know
what you are saying?

I'm asking you
to show compassion.

Why?

It's what humans do.

Frank.

Tell them, please?

Barbara.

I don't understand
a word of it.

Never did.

Barbara, Barbara, Barbara.

You are falling into error.

No.

Then you have passed
into corruption.

It isn't right
to destroy him.

You know that.
You all do.

And so...

You disappoint me.

Yes.

Yes.

Good-bye, Ayn.

Miss Rand will now be happy
to answer some brief questions.

Yes.

Are you the head of a cult?

Young lady,
I have devoted my life

to the cause of individualism.

Now, common sense tells you

you cannot have
a cult of individuals.

Do you have common sense?

What's your favorite TV show?

Charlie's Angels.
I love those girls.

Do you like President Reagan?

Oh, yes, I like him
very much in King's Row,

but not in the White House.

What is the nature of love?

What is the nature of love?

Yes, young man, yes.
I have thought about this.

Love...

Is a command to rise
to one's highest potential,

the best and noblest
vision of ourselves.

Love is a reward,

the greatest we can earn,

granted to us
for the moral qualities

we have achieved in our lives.

You all right?

Let's go.
Okay.

♪♪ Love is something you give ♪♪

♪♪ love's not something you keep ♪♪

♪♪ it's a maze, a haze ♪♪

♪♪ complicated and sweet ♪♪

♪♪ never know when it is ♪♪

♪♪ but you know when it's not ♪♪

♪♪ over time define ♪♪

♪♪ realize what you've got ♪♪

♪♪ love's elusive feeling ♪♪

♪♪ is the greatest reward ♪♪

♪♪ can't be seen ♪♪

♪♪ but it's touch you can't ignore ♪♪

♪♪ Love is something you know ♪♪

♪♪ but you don't understand ♪♪

♪♪ love is fundamental ♪♪

♪♪ dangerous and gentle ♪♪

♪♪ love is not what we choose ♪ ♪

♪♪ love is what we do ♪♪

♪♪ love is what we do ♪♪

♪♪ Love is fundamental ♪♪

♪♪ dangerous and gentle ♪♪

♪♪ love is not what we choose ♪♪

♪♪ love is what we do ♪♪

♪♪ love is what ♪♪

♪♪ love is what we do ♪♪

♪♪ love is what we do ♪♪