It tells the story of the philosopher Hannah Arendt's trip to Jerusalem to write about the trial of Eichmann, a high-ranking Nazi official.
When observing the trial, Arendt found that, unlike the usual view of evil, and that the evil deeds came from the actor's own conscious, selfish, anti-social motives, Eichmann was so mediocre, so of the general public. There is a strong disagreement between his account of his actions and what he actually did. How could someone who had no motive, just obeyed orders, completely ignore his conscience, participate in and contribute to the completion of the Holocaust? Faced with this doubt, Arendt elevated the report to a philosophical level, proposing the idea of banal evil. Eichmann was only a small person before his horrific atrocities. He lost the ability to think and obeyed orders completely. The bureaucracy devoured him as a human being, turning him into a Nazi killing machine. Arendt's idea caused an uproar, with many berating her for "defending" Eichmann. During the controversy, Arendt came forward to respond to these questions.
The rhythm and narrative of the film are very comfortable, interspersed with real footage of the Eichmann trial. Before and after the trial, Arendt and her colleagues and friends exchange ideas, interspersed with some of her past events with Heidegger. Arendt is a very enlightening philosopher for me. Her and Bowman's work has largely shaken my embrace of reason. Why in an age of disenchantment, people can commit so many unforgivable evil deeds so blindly and fanatically. Perhaps we need to re-examine that over-hyped modernity.
There are two parts of the film that really impressed me.
The first was uttered when Arendt's friend argued with some opponents: she was just braver. Many criticized Arendt's article, arguing that she was self-righteous and ignored Jewish suffering. But she is not Jewish, she has not experienced the catastrophe during World War II, and she does not want to simply think that the Nazis' behavior was due to their evil thoughts. But after Eichmann's trial, she chose to think, to analyze and explain the differences in Eichmann's behavior and thinking. Thinking independently despite mainstream opinion is probably the most courageous act for me.
The second segment is Arendt's speech in the classroom. She expounds her own thinking, refutes hostile questions, and leaves a lot of room for viewers to think for themselves. At the end of that speech, just like taking a philosophy class in college, I felt that my mind was dizzy and my body was light. Like the students in the play, I couldn't help but applaud.
The film makes my thoughts fly, and the shadows I can catch are probably these. But the most important feeling is that evil is far more banal than we think, and all we can do is keep thinking.
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