In 1962, Lawrence of Arabia catapulted Peter O’Toole to international stardom, his outstanding performance in David Lean’s cinema epic earning him an immediate place in film history. On screen and off he has forged a reputation based on talent, hell-raising and an ability to surprise. Occasioned by the publication of the first volume of his memoirs, Loitering with Intent, this documentary with the rarely-interviewed actor gives a fascinating insight into his life.
Alice Walker
The African-American author of the internationally-acclaimed book The Color Purple has been a political activist for the civil rights and women’s movements since the early 1960s. Interviewed at the time of the publication of her controversial novel Possessing the Secret of Joy, Alice Walker discusses its subject – female genital mutilation. With archive film, dramatised extracts from the book and documentary sequences, this programme confronts a disturbing issue.
Karol Szymanowski – Song of the Night
This semi-dramatised film delves into the vivid and exotic imagination of the Polish composer Szymanowski (1882-1937). Though dogged by ill health and misfortune, his whole life was a search to find his own creative voice and to develop and contribute to an authentic Polish musical culture. Szymanowski’s music is performed by the Warsaw National Philharmonic, conducted by Kazimierz Kord. Among those interviewed is the late Witold Lutoslawski.
Sacre du printemps/Symphonies for Winds
The rhythmic complexities of the Sacre are notorious but, in the hands of a master of modern music and one of the world’s top orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra, the elemental barbarism of the music is thrilling. Boulez’s definitive reading of Stravinsky’s masterpiece was recorded live from the Alte Oper Frankfurt, in a performance specially staged for the cameras. The programme includes a short interview with the conductor about this landmark work (available in English, French and German), as well as a performance of Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments.
Edmund White On Jean Genet
Best known for his novels A Boy’s Own Story and The Beautiful Room is Empty, American writer Edmund White spent six years researching his biography of Genet. In this evocative and poetic film, shot on location in Paris, he presents a highly personal and intriguing portrait of Genet which shows how the writer’s homosexuality was the major influence on his work and his life.
Vladimir Ashkenazy on Rachmaninov
In this programme the celebrated pianist and conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, a champion of his compatriot Rachmaninov (1873-1943), urges a fuller appreciation of the composer’s music. Filmed at Ivanovka, the country house south of Moscow where Rachmaninov wrote many of his works, the programme makes extensive use of archive footage and stills. It draws on his writings and features several sound recordings of him playing his own compositions. Ashkenazy also plays and conducts music by Rachmaninov.
John Banville
Noted for his dense, thickly-textured prose and his very precise use of often rare and difficult language, the distinguished Irish writer is, by his own definition, “something between a novelist and a poet”. Recording an in-depth discussion between Banville and author Melvyn Bragg, this programme affords an opportunity to understand the motivation and method of this immensely gifted, profoundly literate contemporary writer. It includes visualised readings from Banville’s works, among them The Book of Evidence and Ghosts.
Annie Leibovitz
Since the early 1970s, when she became chief photographer for Rolling Stone magazine, Annie Leibovitz has won acclaim for capturing images that stand as embodiments of their time. She is also renowned for persuading celebrity subjects to strike startling poses for her camera – such as the notorious Vanity Fair cover shot of a naked and pregnant Demi Moore. This programme chronicles Leibovitz’s career, showcases her work and shows her on a shoot with Demi Moore.
Jeff Koons
‘Vulgar’, ‘banal’ and ‘pornographic’, are all words that have been used to describe the work of American sculptor Jeff Koons. This master of self-publicity is best known for his kitsch novelties, and photographs and sculptures of himself in Kama Sutra positions with his ex-wife, La Cicciolina. Not since Duchamp and Warhol has any artist so dramatically polarised critical opinion and provoked such controversy. In this revealing profile, Koons is seen working on a major creation – a fourteen-metre-high puppy built entirely of fresh flowers.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Six months before the completion of his most famous landmark, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Frank Lloyd Wright died. He had struggled for seventeen years to realise his crowning architectural vision and in those six months many of his plans were mutilated. His true intentions were only realised following restoration work that took place 1990-92. In this film, leading architect Richard Rogers tells the story of the secret life of the Guggenheim.