Film-maker Ken Loach has gained an international reputation for making films concerned with social injustice. He made this film in 1984/85 at the time of a miners’ strike – the longest ever national strike in Britain. It is a record of the miners’ bitter struggle to save their jobs, incorporating the poems, songs and art they created to express their solidarity in the face of hardship.
Africa
This major eight-part series reveals the rich and diverse drama of African history and is presented by the distinguished historian and scholar Basil Davidson. Covering a vast time scale – from the origins of some of the world’s greatest civilisations, to colonisation, the rise of nationalism and the emergence of modern Africa – the story is unfolded on location all over the continent with the help of archive film, carefully illustrated eye-witness accounts, interviews with statesmen and leaders, dramatic reconstructions and specially-shot film of festivals, ceremonies and life there today.
The Pleasure Gardens
In the late eighteenth century, the gardens at Vauxhall on London’s River Thames were transformed into a place of lavish and exotic entertainment. Windgassen’s innovative film uses Chromakey techniques to recreate the ‘goings on’ in the gardens and includes performances of popular songs of the day by Donald Grobe and Reri Grist. This witty evocation makes full use of the music of the classical composers of the age, such as Arne, Bach, Handel, Hook and Giordani.
The Yellow Gash
Jean-Paul Sartre’s imagination was caught by the Venetian master’s rebellion against Convention: his use of unexpected viewpoints; contrasts of scale; his visionary use of colour, light and shade. Sartre’s analysis of Tintoretto’s work forms the basis of this film study, which also draws on the writings of Vasari, and Ridolfi’s biography of the artist. Shot on location in Venice, the programme captures the full splendour of Tintoretto’s famous paintings and frescoes.
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
Ingres (1780-1867) presents a paradox – admired by many but loved by few, he was called reactionary and opposed the new Romanticism. Yet many who followed in the footsteps of his arch rival Delacroix found inspiration in Ingres’ work. Demonstrating the diversity of his art and the flexibility of his style, this film considers his reaction against the artistic changes of his day. It uses contemporary documentation and Ingres’ words and paintings to investigate the enigma he presents.
Jacques-Louis David
David (1748-1825) saw his art as a weapon for social change. This film traces his career from his youth, as a Student of Boucher, through his heavy involvement in the politics of the French Revolution, to his exile in Brussels. Drawing on the memoirs of his pupil Delecluze and other historical documents, it provides a fascinating insight into the world of late eighteenth-century French society.
Chanel Chanel
The world of fashion has produced no greater designer and no more charismatic figure than Coco Chanel, who died in 1971. This film tells her fascinating rags-to-riches story and looks at the Chanel fashion house, flourishing under the auspices of top designer Karl Lagerfeld. The film contrasts the theatre of his large-scale shows with the comparative austerity of the old-style Chanel presentations and assesses the impact of the Chanel legacy on Lagerfeld’s work.
Gesualdo the Prince
The story of Carlo Gesualdo (1560-1613) is one of the most famous and most blood-curdling in musical history: it tells of a crime of passion involving a great composer who was also a prince. This dramatised film takes the form of a mystery – Gesualdo’s terrible secret surfaces slowly until the events that shattered his life and set a dark tone to his music are revealed. Peter Eyre is Gesualdo and the Schütz Consort, directed by Sir Roger Norrington, plays his music.
Dancer
Peter Schaufuss presents a four-part series which puts the male dancer centre-stage, dispelling the shadow so often cast by his female partner. The programmes focus on the dancer as athletic virtuoso and as partner, and survey his role in the established repertoire, as well as in new work created by modern choreographers. Each film makes extensive use of specially shot dance extracts, featuring some of the world’s greatest dancers, companies and choreographers.
I Lombardi
Verdi’s opera is set at the time of the first Crusade and tells of the rivalry between two brothers, Arvino and Pagano, for the love of Viclinda. Pagano, in an attempt to abduct Viclinda and kill his brother, in error murders his father. He is exiled to the Holy Land to live as a hermit. Giselda, Arvino’s daughter, has gone with her father on the Crusade, but is captured by Acciano, tyrant of Antioch. She falls in love with his son Oronte. They escape, but Oronte is wounded and dies. The hermit leads the attack on Jerusalem and then reveals his identity to Arvino, dying forgiven in his brother’s arms.