Ever since he first began making films in the 1960s, Ken Loach’s concern with social injustice has informed his work. Interviews with Loach and with his long-time producer Tony Garnett, as well as extracts from his films, form the basis for an examination of how this modest and self-effacing man has managed to survive with his political beliefs intact.
Anthony Hopkins
Famed for his Oscar-winning portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, the charismatic actor Anthony Hopkins talks frankly about his career in this revealing profile. He talks about the sense of isolation he suffered for much of his life, about his alcoholism and the moment he chose to stop drinking his life away. With location filming in his native Wales and in America, the programme traces his formative influences and looks at his career on both sides of the Atlantic.
David Cronenberg
Chris Rodley was granted complete access to follow the making of Naked Lunch, horror-film director David Cronenberg’s version of William Burroughs’ infamous novel. The resulting documentary features searching interviews with Cronenberg, producer Jeremy Thomas, the actors, and special effects wizard Jim Isaac. Burroughs himself is seen visiting the sets and meeting his Sex Blobs, insect typewriters and Mugwumps. He also reads extracts from his once-banned book.
Terence Davies
This film explores the work of Terence Davies, one of Britain’s most distinctive and personal film-makers. In interview and through sequences he has written himself, Davies looks at his past and the themes, ideas and images which haunt him. He uses poems, music and extracts from his films to reflect upon working-class life in Liverpool, the joys of accountancy and Catholicism, and British and American cinema from Diana Dors to Doris Day.
Terry Gilliam
This profile charts the career of Terry Gilliam, the ex-Monty Python animator turned film-maker, whose highly inventive features include the hugely successful Fisher King. Viewers are given a glimpse into his private world as he is seen at home in London – making a family video, showing off the unique collection of models and memorabilia he has salvaged from his film sets, watching clips from his movies, and discussing Hollywood and the cinema with his fellow Python and friend, Michael Palin.
Alan Parker
Despite altercations with the British film industry and critics, Parker, whose credits include Bugsy Malone, Midnight Express, Fame, and Mississippi Burning, remains one of the country’s most accomplished film-makers and one the few to transplant successfully to Hollywood. In a programme which follows him back to his roots in London, to the Cannes Film Festival, and to Dublin to work on his film The Commitments, Parker talks revealingly about his career, which is amply illustrated with clips.
Soitting Image
The Spitting Image puppets feature in this exploration of the way in which caricature affects public figures and people’s perception of them. Talking from their own experience, luminaries drawn from the political arena, the media and the world of sport comment on the positive and negative aspects of the puppets. The originators of Spitting Image, Roger Law and Peter Fluck, producer John Lloyd, and writers Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, talk about their brain-child.
Steve Martin
Comedian Steve Martin is a major box office draw. This programme looks at the development of his career in American entertainment and focuses on his work as the screenwriter and star of L. A. Story, a romantic comedy with a surrealistic Hollywood backdrop. Interviewed during filming, Martin is seen at work on the set, as well as in clips from his films, television appearances and stand-up routines.
The Mystery of Dr Martinu
This Ken Russell’s biopic about Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959) takes the form of a psychological detective story. Using a kaleidoscope of images and references, Russell searches out the Czech composer’s influences and obsessions, and traces his quest for a true voice. He conjures up Martinu’s inner-life and dreams and dramatises episodes with his wife and colleagues in Czechoslovakia, Paris and the USA. Patrick Ryecart features as Martinu and Hannah King as Slava.
Preston Sturges
With a string of blockbuster ‘screwball’ comedies, writer-director Preston Sturges (1898-1959) was Hollywood’s wonder boy in the early 1940s. Unhappily, his talent faded by the fifties. This programme paints an entertaining and moving portrait of a genius doomed by his own success, combining the reminiscences of colleagues and friends with rare photos and generous footage from his landmark films.