No excuses can hide the criminal actions of a Nazi fellow-traveller in this admirably objective documentary, suggests MARTIN HALL
A brilliant performance
LOUIS BAYMAN admires Mike Leigh’s bleakly comic take on a black woman’s experience of depression that offers no easy answers
TOUR DE FORCE: Marianne Jean-Baptiste in Hard Truths
PAUL DONOVAN relishes a fascinating exploration of the leading lights of the Labour right in the 1970s
BEN LUNN alerts us to the creeping return of philanthropy and private patronage, and suggests alternative paths to explore
A novel by Argentinian Jorge Consiglio, a personal dictionary by Uruguayan Ida Vitale, and poetry by Mexican Homero Aridjis
MIK SABIERS savours the first headline solo show of the stalwart of Brighton’s indie-punk outfit Blood Red Shoes
New releases reviewed by IAN SINCLAIR
STEVEN ANDREW is moved beyond words by a historical account of mining in Britain made from the words of the miners themselves
IF you were to ask a computer programme to come up with a title for a new Mike Leigh film it could do no better than Hard Truths.
Echoing the title of his very first film in 1971, Bleak Moments, Hard Truths represents a variation on the veteran British director’s recurrent theme of the delusions that keep us a step away from despair.
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PAUL FOLEY is disappointed by a production that encourages the audience to laugh at rather than with the characters
MATTHEW HAWKINS pays tribute to the performance artist and costumier, Leigh Bowery
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE is dazzled by an extraordinary performance in a classic Mike Leigh film
PAUL DONOVAN recommends a new, updated production of Mike Leigh’s bittersweet comedy of manners