One of the most profound and far-reaching social changes of the twentieth century was the enfranchisement and liberation of women. This, in turn, removed the Stigma that only fallen women adorned themselves with cosmetics. Beauty became a multinational billion-dollar business. The Beauty Queens looks at this huge industry and its power for social change, focusing on the lives and achievements of three exceptional women who helped shape its development: Helena Rubinstein, Elizabeth Arden and Estee Lauder.
Jean Genet
A once-and-for-all glimpse into the unique story and thought processes of Jean Genet, one of France’s most interesting literary figures, who gave this first and only in-depth television interview just six months before his death in 1986. Genet remained unrepentant about his past as a thief and prostitute, and was still questioning society’s expectations. He had lost none of his power to overturn preconceptions and to confront and disturb his audience.
Marguerite Duras
The distinguished French novelist and film-maker, who died in 1996, talks frankly about the hardship and romance of her childhood in Indo-China. She discusses how her early experiences have haunted her life and why she has returned to them repeatedly in her work, most notably in her best-selling novel, The Lover, which won the coveted Prix Goncourt. The programme features clips from her films and illustrated readings from her books.
Mon Cher Papa
The extraordinary drawings of Maurice Sendak have made his picture books world-wide best-sellers. Throughout his working life his passion has been music, in particular, Mozart. The composer is his inspiration and his obsession. In this documentary, Sendak reveals the many ways in which his work is influenced by Mozart.
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
One of the greatest sopranos of the post-war decades, Schwarzkopf won acclaim on the operatic stage and as a lieder singer. Her career was moulded by Walter Legge, an innovative British recording executive who became her husband. He guided her towards her best repertoire – Mozart and Richard Strauss. In this film, which includes rare archive footage of Schwarzkopf in performance, she talks about her life and work and is seen conducting a masterclass on Hugo Wolf songs.
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Reynolds’ portraits of eighteenth-century high society are unrivalled mirrors of the age in which he lived. This programme on the life and times of the founding President of England’s Royal Academy draws on the learned Discourses he delivered there periodically to expound his theories. It examines his paintings, visits the houses for which they were destined, and canvasses the views of scholars, critics and owners.
Dylan Thomas
When Anthony Hopkins led a star-studded, all-Welsh cast in an audio recording of Dylan Thomas’s play for voices, Under Milk Wood, the cameras were on hand to capture the process on film. The programme visits Laugharne, the small Welsh town on which the work is based, where Thomas lived at the end of his life. It also examines his later years and the demons which drove him to create this nostalgic vision.
Family Portrait The Cullberg Ballet
Birgit Cullberg’s ballet to Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor Op. 50 is set in the 1860s and concerns four people locked in a complex family conflict – a father (Niklas Ek), a mother (Eva Evdokimova), their daughter (Liselott Svalberg) and her beau (Håkan Mayer). Conflicting emotions make them virtual strangers to each other, but they are bound together by a profound love. Chromakey techniques allow the dancers to move in and out of Impressionist paintings by Manet, Monet, Turner and others.
Mass No. 1 (Missa Sancta)
This performance of Weber’s Missa Sancta No. 1 in E flat was recorded live from the baroque monastery at Waldsassen in Bavaria.
Two Women in three Dimensions
Despite such illustrious examples as Barbara Hepworth and Elizabeth Frink, sculpture is still commonly regarded as a masculine pursuit. This programme profiles Nicola Hicks and Wendy Taylor, two outstanding sculptresses working in Britain today, both exceptionally talented, who express themselves with humour, frankness and ease. They are seen at work, at home and, most importantly, against the backgrounds of their work.