The Portuguese painter Paula Rego’s work has been described as dealing with all aspects of the human comedy from a female perspective. She now lives in the UK and spent a year working at the National Gallery in London as their first Associate Artist. This exploration of her inspiration and influences, shot on location in Portugal and England, surveys her art, focusing on the paintings she produced using the National’s collection as a source.
The Pet Shop Boys
This programme looks at the Pet Shop Boys phenomenon, with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe revealing the inspiration behind their distinctive brand of pop music. Video clips and film of their spectacular stage shows capture the Pet Shop Boys in action, singing hits such as It’s a Sin, Domino Dancing and Where the Streets Have No Name. Liza Minnelli, with whom they have worked, is a contributor.
The Secret Life of Alban Berg
Alban Berg (1885-1935) lived in the mainstream of well-to-do Austrian society. His marriage to the beautiful Hélène was thought to be made in heaven. But how can this doyen of Viennese respectability be reconciled with the composer who wrote the dark operas Wozzeck and Lulu? This multi-layered film explores Berg’s double life. Soprano Kristine Ciesinki, who features in specially-staged extracts from Lulu and Wozzeck, travels to Vienna, Prague, the USA and Germany to track down important archive documents and people who can recall the composer’s presence in their lives.
The Secret Life of Sir Arnold Bax
The English composer Sir Arnold Bax (1883-1953) wrote intensely picturesque and romantic music. Ken Russell’s film takes up Bax’s story in the late 1940s, when the composer had just written the score for Lean’s film of Oliver Twist. It dramatises an imaginary affair with a cinema usherette-cum-fan-dancer – a composite of the many flirtations Bax indulged in – and concerns the artist’s struggle to maintain his ideals, loyalty and vision. Russell himself plays Bax and his portrait of a sad old man whose music has fallen out of favour is true and moving. The cast also includes Glenda Jackson.
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.
Julian Barnes
This film profile of one of today’s most critically and commercially successful British novelists includes dramatised scenes from his book Talking It Over, which deals with his perennial themes of love and jealousy. Barnes talks about his work in interview and admits to being obsessed with obsessions.
The Parsons Dance Company II
David Parsons is one of the golden boys of American dance, combining great popular appeal with quality and integrity of ideas and execution. As artistic director, choreographer and dancer, he has transferred to his own troupe, The Parsons Dance Company – eight exceptionally polished and energetic dancers – the charm, virtuosity and physical power that made him a star of the Paul Taylor Dance Company. A witty terseness and probing intelligence mark his choreography, which conceals its difficulty behind a silky casualness. Many of his pieces have been absorbed into the repertoires of leading ballet companies including the Paris Opera Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre, and he continues to develop his work, demonstrating a true commitment to real, satisfying, dancing. Parsons’ work is featured in three studio recordings, which demonstrate the diversity of his influences and his mastery of a wide range of styles. Versatility excites him and, with each piece he creates, he explores a new vocabulary of movement, searches for a fresh emotional colour, often working with a different design team. The music he chooses ranges from Mozart and Rossini to Robert Fripp and specially-commissioned scores. Lighting designs by Howell Binkley enhance all the stagings. David Parsons introduces each of the seven pieces presented in these programmes and it is easy to see why his charm, energy and integrity have won him such a considerable following.
Hakan Hardenberger – A Profile of the Swedish Trumpet Player
The Swedish classical trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger rose rapidly to the pinnacle of his profession. His virtuosity and his passion for expanding the repertoire of his instrument have made eminent composers eager to write music for him, including Birtwistle and Ligeti. In this film he is seen working with Hans Werner Henze on a new composition, rehearsing and performing classic and contemporary works, and talking about his music.
Lenny Henry Hunts the Funk
Black comedian Lenny Henry investigates his favourite music, and finds that it’s also a language, a style, and a type of behaviour. At the artist formerly known as Prince’s recording studios in Minneapolis, Lenny meets an unparalleled array of funk artists, including the father of funk, James Brown, and members of his band. There is an orgy of performance clips featuring funk’s main men – Brown, George Clinton, Prince, MC Hammer – and the beat just goes on…
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.