In this week's programme presented by
John Wilson:
THE PANEL:
Paul Morley |
Tom Paulin |
Marina Hyde
Comment on this programme
And When Did You Last See Your Father?
Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth star in the film adaptation of Blake Morrison's best-selling memoirs about his relationship with his father.
As Blake, now 40, married and a successful author, comes to terms with his father Arthur's terminal illness, he revisits formative experiences in the 1950s and 60s and remembers his charismatic but overbearing father in this portrayal of family loyalties and suppressed conflicts.
As the story interweaves the bitter-sweet humour and embarrassment of Blake's adolescence with the present day reality of dealing with Arthur's decline, the question is: can any of us forgive our parents for being human?
Director Anand Tucker earned himself a reputation for giving cinematic scope to intimate narrative with Hilary and Jackie, for which the lead actresses both won Oscar nominations. With one British film this year already building nomination buzz, could this be a rival contender? The panel discuss.
And When Did You Last See Your Father? Certificate 12A is on general release
The Ghost by Richard Harris
Robert Harris started his career as a political reporter, and although his first novel, Fatherland, was published in 1992, he spent a good section of 1997 on the Labour campaign trail, with unprecedented access to the Prime Minister in-waiting.
In his new novel, "The Ghost", the protagonist is a ghost-writer brought in to re-write the memoirs of a recently ex- Labour PM, who came to power on a wave of optimism, but has departed Downing Street under the shadow of an unpopular, arguably illegal war, and is taking refuge in the bosom of his closest political ally, the United States. Harris has made it clear this is a fictional character, but memories of Blair are strongly, deliberately, pricked.
Character analysis aside, Harris continues with his familiar and hugely successful method of merging meticulous historical details with a finely wrought thriller. It's a formula that has served him well, but he's never attempted such a contemporary setting. Does his magpie characterisation and eye for detail overwhelm the narrative when applied to the here and now?
The Ghost by Robert Harris is published by Hutchinson
The Masque of the Red Death
Battersea Arts Centre
Punchdrunk are renowned for their innovative approach to theatre. Not only does this theatrical company mask its audience, it also gives them freedom to wander around the buildings that they have transformed into sets for their large-scale productions. Their last smash-hit production, Faust, took over a disused warehouse in Wapping and won a Critics' Circle Award in 2006.
For their latest show, The Masque of the Red Death, they have transformed an old town hall, Battersea Arts Centre, into a set for nine Edgar Allan Poe short stories including The Fall of the House of Usher and The Black Cat. Billed as a "journey into a macabre world" guests make their way through dark corridors, attic bedrooms and an eerie basement, before the evening culminates in a grand finale.
Punchdrunk say that they "reject the passive obedience expected of audiences. The desire is for the audience to rediscover the childlike excitement and anticipation of exploring the unknown and experience a real sense of adventure." So did the panel?
The Masque of Red Death continues at Battersea Arts Centre until 12 January 2008
Pop Art in Portraits
National Portrait Gallery, London
"Pop Art is: Popular (designed for a mass audience), Transient (short term solution), Expendable (easily forgotten), Low cost, Mass produced, Young, Witty, Sexy, Gimmicky, Glamorous, Big Business. This is just the beginning . . . "It is 50 years since Richard Hamilton gave his definition of the Pop Art movement which started in the 1950s and dominated throughout the 1960s.
Pop Art Portraits is the first exhibition to be solely given over to the portraiture of one of the world's most influential art movements. Featuring American and British artists, the exhibition brings together 52 works from such luminaries as Richard Hamilton, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, David Hockney, Peter Blake and the Prince of Pop Art himself, Andy Warhol.
The exhibition tells the story of how the movement emerged from the abstract expressionism which had preceded it to shatter the conventions of portraiture with highly stylised images of icons such as Elvis and The Beatles before one of the most famous icons in the world's death, Marilyn Monroe, when Pop Art began to reflect hope drifting away and Cold War worries begin to loom in. As well as paintings and sculpture, the exhibition also includes film and a room presented as a secular chapel to images of Marilyn.
Curator Paul Moorhouse says "the issues you see in this exhibition - new technology, consumerism, fame, celebrity - are ones we're still coming to terms with." The panel discuss whether the themes Pop Art explored still have resonances for us today.
Pop Art Portraits opens at the National Portrait Gallery on 11 October
Daljit Nagra
"Look We Have Coming To Dover!" is Daljit Nagra's poetry anthology debut and this week it won him the Best First Collection at the prestigious Forward Prize.
An English teacher by trade, Nagra has wowed the poetry world with his 21st century word play where he intermixes English and Punjabi to produce poignant poetry that covers controversial themes such as alienation, racism as well as assimilation and belonging and love. Tonight he will perform Darling & Me - a husbands' inebriated love poem to his wife.
Look We Have Coming to Dover! By Daljit Nagra is published by Faber
Don't forget that you can watch Newsnight Review online via this website. The programme is available in broadband from 1200 BST on the Saturday after originally broadcast for one week.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~34~RS~)
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~34~RS~)
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
Bookmark with:
What are these?