?Who is John Galt?? That is how Ayn Rand?s novel from 1957 begins. After some 53 years, ?Atlas Shrugged ? The Movie? will finally hit the silver screen! Part 1 will premier on April 15, 2011. For those of us whom have read the novel, this has been a very long wait. Over the decades, many attempts to do a film version have come and gone. Everything from a TV mini-series to even a multi-part animated version. Rumors of Angelina Jolie playing the protagonist, Dagny Taggart were floating around not long ago. Of course, Taylor Schilling won the part from director Paul Johansson, who also appears as the hero, John Galt.
Director/Actor Paul Johansson succeeds in bring ?Atlas Shrugged? to the silver screen after 53 years of multiple attempts and failures. Image Credit: FayesVision/WENN.com.
Ayn Rand?s novel is set in America, overrun by bureaucrats and Socialists. Dagny is a top executive in her family?s railroad company. As she struggles against the government, labor unions, and other special interests, Dagny finds solace, and love with industrialist steel magnate, Hank Reardon, played by Grant Bowler. He, too, struggles as well, including his with his own family, and shrill wife. But lurking in the shadows, another soul haunts and acts against them. None other than John Galt!
We won?t see much of Galt in ?Atlas Shrugged ? The Movie, Part 1?. But his presence is overpowering and relentless. Director Johansson, who plays Galt, makes his initial appearances wearing a full overcoat and slouched fedora hat. Dagny comes to think of him as ?The Monster?. An evil force who is gobbling up and stealing all the talent from the world. But, in reality, John Galt is liberating ?The Productive? and ?The Creative?. Convincing them by sheer logic and philosophy that they should stop contributing to a society which enslaves them. Galt is leading a ?strike of the mind? and intends to be ?the man who stops the motor of the world!?
?Atlas Shrugged ? The Movie, Part 1?, which will be released on April 15, 2011, could become the Movie of the Era, let alone the year or decade. Ayn Rand was prophetic as she wrote her 1,368-page novel, published in 1957 after 10 years of writing. Much of what we witness today on the news was foretold by her. For those of us whom have been waiting, 25 years for me, the movie is long overdue. But what I am most curious about is how the general public, who have not read her books, will react to the film? Some years ago, The Book of the Month Club surveyed their members, asking them which book influenced their lives the most. Number 2, right after the Holy Bible, was ?Atlas Shrugged?. So how will the movie version impact our culture? We shall see!
Related Articles:
The Official Atlas Shrugged Movie Website
The Ayn Rand Institute: News and Highlights
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