Documentarians Ada Ushpiz and Ina Fichman provide an immersive intro course in Hannah Arendt, the German Jewish philosopher who wrote “Eichmann in Jerusalem.” The film works to rescue Arendt and her phrase “the banality of evil” from years of cliché, and largely succeeds.

Extensive historical footage includes a TV interview with Arendt herself that shows her personality better even than her quoted letters — Arendt’s contemptuous smile when describing German intellectuals’ infatuation with Hitler is something to see. Only in the last half-hour does director Ushpiz grapple with some very real objections to aspects of Arendt’s work. But as invoked in the film, Arendt’s ideas about refugees, statelessness and why nations need plurality seem more haunting and prescient than ever.