1960年,以色列宣布抓捕到前纳粹德国高官、素有“死刑执行者”之称的阿道夫·艾希曼,并于1961年在耶路撒冷进行审判。已在美国居住多年的著名犹太女哲学家汉娜·阿伦特(巴巴拉·苏科瓦 Barbara Sukowa 饰)受《纽约人》邀请为此次审判撰稿。当汉娜·阿伦特前往耶路撒冷观看审判后,却在艾希曼的阐述、民意和自己的哲学思考之间发现了分歧。当阿伦特将艾希曼当年的行为提高到哲学的高度,她的文章不出所料地引发了社会上的恶评和抨击,一些汉娜·阿伦特的老友甚至和她绝交反目。这个当年海德格尔门下最得意的女学生在急风骤雨中想全身而退,却发现一切都已经不像自己预计的那样简单。
In 1961, the noted German-American philosopher of Jewish origin, Hannah Arendt, gets to report on the trial of the notorious Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann. While observing the legal proceedings, Arendt concludes that Eichmann was not a monster, but an ordinary man who had thoughtlessly buried his conscience through his obedience to the Nazi regime and its ideology. Arendt's expansion of this idea, presented in her articles for 'The New Yorker', would create her concept of 'the banality of evil' that she thought even sucked in some Jewish leaders of the era into unwittingly participating in the Holocaust. The result is a bitter public controversy in which Arendt is accused of blaming the Holocaust's victims. Now that strong willed intellectual is forced to defend her ideas in a struggle that will exact a heavy personal cost.
获奖情况
第26届欧洲电影奖 (2013)
最佳女主角(提名) 巴巴拉·苏科瓦
第63届德国电影奖 (2013)
最佳影片银奖 Bettina Brokemper / Johannes Rexin
最佳女主角 巴巴拉·苏科瓦
最佳导演(提名) 玛加蕾特·冯·特罗塔
最佳剧本(提名) Pam Katz / 玛加蕾特·冯·特罗塔
最佳服装设计(提名) Frauke Firl
最佳化妆(提名) Astrid Weber
第25届东京国际电影节 (2012)
主竞赛单元 最佳影片(提名) 玛加蕾特·冯·特罗塔