Exhibitions - Gerhard Richter: Panorama - Tate Modern

Star rating – 6/10

This exhibition of the work of Gerhard Richter at Tate Modern spans over five decades of his work, and is a good showcase for the many different and eclectic styles of art which he has used. I went more out of curiosity than a particular interest in the artist, and it was an interesting way to spend an hour or so, but in truth not captivating for me throughout.

His style of photopainting – using actual photos as the basis for pictures – is intriguing and produces some very interesting results. He drags a brush across the black and white image to blur and distort it. His ‘Ferrari’ from 1964 is a great example of this style, and the effect makes the car look like it is moving at speed. Another work in this style is a bit more bizarre, not to say macabre – the oddly titled ‘Tourist (with 2 lions)’ shows a series of photos charting the mauling and death of a man who got into a lions’ cage at a Spanish zoo. That was a bit too weird for my tastes.

Some of his landscapes are dramatic and compelling, capturing the atmosphere of the moment on large canvasses beautifully. And some of his works have a political bent, either capturing World War II bomb damage in German cities; his uncle Rudi in German army uniform; or the beguiling works depicting the Baader Meinhof group. Richter also powerfully depicted the moment when the planes hit the Twin Towers on 9/11 in ‘September’, although he refused to show the fire ball that accompanied the impact. He is obviously a bold artist who is not afraid to go where others fear to tread – which is never a bad thing.

Some of his more abstract works are a bit lost on me – but the gigantic ‘Silicate’ from 2003 is impressive in its scale and tone. Apparently he listened to the music of John Cage when producing some of his work – some may say the results are suitably fitting.

Theatre - Hamlet - Young Vic

Star rating – 8/10

There have been a lot of great Danes (pardon the pun) lately, the most notable version of Hamlet being performed at the National Theatre, with Rory Kinnear giving a terrific performance in the title role. But this complex play is more than capable of standing up to many different interpretations, and so there is enough room on the proverbial stage for the mesmeric, chameleon like Michael Sheen to try his hand at the role.

The Young Vic’s version from director Ian Rickson is very different – it is bold, jagged and challenging. The audience enter via a back stage tour through locked corridors and CCTV cameras giving an eerie feel, and it is not initially clear what sort of world you are entering. It soon becomes apparent that this play is set in a high security psychiatric hospital, and this Broadmoor-like backdrop seems to be a brave and brilliant masterstroke for the first half of the play. Full marks must go to designer Jeremy Herbert for transforming the Young Vic beyond recognition to achieve this.

And the cast, led by the magnificently manic Sheen are terrific. Sheen is simply terrific. He rages and rants and seethes as the injustice of what has happened to his father the King becomes apparent. His performance is epic, and it might seem picky to mention it, but getting him to also play the part of his father’s ghost at the start of the play, and also the new King Fortinbras at its end seems a bit muddled. It makes him seem a bit more schizophrenic that is usual for Hamlet, and muddies the dramatic waters a bit.

Ophelia is played with haunting tragedy yet great gusto by Vinette Robinson. The fight scene between herself and Hamlet is scarily authentic, and her descent into madness is very convincing. James Clyde as Claudius plays the new King come manager of the secure institution terrifically, even if this version does not make him seem quite as evil as the Bard intended. Sally Dexter does as much with the unsatisfying and to be honest pretty marginal role of his new wife Gertrude, also here an inmate, as well as she can. Hayley Carmichael seems a strange choice to play Horatio – not normally a part associated with a woman – but supports her friend Hamlet well. Michael Gould is great as Polonius, wringing some humour from the dark lines he utters in a novel way. Another little gripe is that Benedict Wong’s accent is quite difficult to understand as Laertes, which is a bit of a weakness.

The novel institutional setting is perfect in the first half, but after the interval it seems to direct the course of the action, rather than serving as its backdrop. And it all goes a bit bonkers near the end – not a problem if it is really Broadmoor, but you have to keep remembering that this is the court of Elsinore in Denmark – and the staging overtakes the action a little which is a shame.

But nothing can take away from the brilliance of Michael Sheen’s performance here. He is a gifted and mesmerising actor who wrings every ounce of passion and tragedy from the role. It is a real privilege to witness him delivering his craft at such close quarters.

DVD - Bobby Fischer Against the World - directed by Liz Garbus

Star rating – 7/10

When I was 8 years old I remember the world, (well John Craven’s Newsround and my chess mad Dad at least), being gripped by the 1972 World Chess Championship in Iceland. I know it sounds a bit unlikely now but chess was big news back then, and this was billed as a Cold War show down between the prevailing world champion the Russian Boris Spassky, and the dashing young enigmatic American genius Bobby Fischer. A fascinating documentary about Fischer directed by Liz Garbus, which was on at cinemas for about two seconds earlier this year, has just been released on DVD.

This is a gripping but disturbing story, as the young Bobby starts his chess career at the age of 6, and pretty much plays chess to the exclusion of everything else in his life from then on. Fischer was born to a Jewish single mother and grew up in Brooklyn. From this film Regina, his mother, seems to have been a pretty intense character too, and as her only son grew up, they clashed more and more. They both reportedly had obsessive compulsive character traits, which may have helped Bobby to become a chess legend, but didn’t exactly represent a recipe for his future happiness.

The film charts the progress of extraordinary World Chess Championships, to which it was not clear up until the eleventh hour whether or not Fischer would even bother to turn up. Shots of Spassky waiting ever more impatiently to see if his chess rival from the USA would show are amazing. And as you may know, Fischer not only showed up, but triumphed in a tense and tightly fought contest which represented so much more than a chess game between these two unofficial representatives of the two then dominant world super powers.

After this victory Fischer’s life spiralled into an ever more tragic downward trajectory. His genius was his greatest strength and also his fatal flaw. He descended into a very strange anti Semitic shadow of his former self – strange and very sad considering his own background. He became a recluse and was only welcome in one country in the whole world, Iceland, the scene of his triumph years before. And even there he was barely tolerated before his lonely and untimely death. This film tells his fascinating story, and whilst not being an easy watch, does remind us that being a genius is not all it’s cracked up to be.

Gigs - Laura Marling - Manchester Cathedral

Star rating – 8/10

It’s always a bit of a different experience when you go along to a gig without knowing much about the artist beforehand, and as I was offered a ticket to go to see Laura Marling without really knowing much of her music, I didn’t really have any prior expectations of what she would be like. And I very much liked what I heard.

This young singer carries the folk banner lightly, and has a lovely soaring voice, at times very reminiscent of a young Joni Mitchell. It seemed to fit perfectly with the beautiful and majestic surroundings of Manchester Cathedral. Marling has a charming personality and an unassuming presence. Both she and her band seemed like they were having a really good time, regaling the delighted crowd with factoids about the Manchester area.

The set was a slight mixed bag, with some stand out songs and some where her voice seemed a little lost. She fluffed her guitar part a couple of times, but simply laughed and carried on in a very endearing way. Overall she is an extremely talented songwriter with a beautiful voice, which she showed off perfectly.

Laura Marling is definitely one to watch – her voice and talents can surely only get better with maturity. And as she is only 21 she has a long way to go. I will definitely be checking out some of her music as a result of this heavenly night (pardon the pun).

Film - We Need To Talk About Kevin - directed by Lynne Ramsay

Star rating – 9/10

If you’ve read the bestselling novel by Lionel Shriver, then you’ll know this is not exactly a feel good tale. It is harrowing, uncomfortable, gripping and pain filled. I know that doesn’t sound like the best of recommendations, but this really is a superb film from director Lynne Ramsey, who has captured the menace and visceral tone of the book perfectly.

And yes Tilda Swinton deserves all the plaudits that she will no doubt get for this tremendously difficult role. Swinton is the most chameleon- like of actors, switching seamlessly without effort from sexy and sophisticated in ‘I Am Love’; to the archetypal wicked queen of Narnia, to this surely her greatest challenge yet. She plays Eva the mother of Kevin, who seems to have been fairly happy and carefree before she had him, but then fails to bond with him as a baby. From then on their relationship is strained to say the least, with each day being a constant battle of wills.

It is a bit of a nature, nurture debate, with no clear answer being given to the obvious and disturbing question of whether it was something in Kevin which made him unlovable in his mother’s eyes, or if her lack of affection caused his dysfunctional behaviour. The tragedy is played out here in a non sequential way, with Eva’s present tormented, lonely and wretched life interspersed with flashbacks to days with her family. She spends a large proportion of the film with her hands covered in red paint as she desperately tries to scrape it from her house and car after various acts of hatred are performed by the locals, obviously not overjoyed at her presence in the neighbourhood.

In the book the horror of what Kevin has done is not revealed until near the end, but with the story having been read by so many, the film does not rely on that element of surprise to shock and draw its audience in. It is pretty obvious from the off that there has been some sort of Columbine style massacre at Kevin’s school.

And although most of the headlines will be about Swinton’s mesmerising performance, some lime light must also be reserved for the amazing and horrific portrayal of the eldest Kevin by Ezra Miller. His enactment of evil is truly disturbing. He torments his mother and switches to normal more whenever his father (John C Reilly) appears in the room. He is horrible to his beautiful little sister, and all I will say is that the moment she gets a guinea pig for Christmas you just know that things will not go well. And I am amazed at how the younger actors who played Kevin, some just toddlers, were got to stare with quite so much malice at their mother.

This is not an easy film to sit through, but it does stay with you for a long time after the credits role. It is a masterpiece and a great adaptation of an equally great but deeply unsettling book.