RITA DI SANTO speaks to the exiled Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa about Two Prosecutors, his chilling study of the Stalinist purges
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A joyful reimagining of Marvin Gaye’s masterpiece
DAN NOLAN thoroughly enjoys a flawed but heartfelt rendition of the politically charged song cycle, performed by an exciting jazz orchestra that’s bursting with talent
Nu Civilisation Orchestra in full swing
FIONA O’CONNOR is fascinated by a novel written from the perspective of a neurodivergent psychology student who falls in love
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SIMON PARSONS is gripped by a psychological thriller that questions the the power of the state over vulnerable individuals
KEN COCKBURN assesses the art of Ian Hamilton Finlay for the experience of warfare it incited and represents
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GORDON PARSONS steps warily through the pessimistic world view of an influential US conservative
Nu Civilisation Orchestra: What’s Going On
Royal Festival Hall, London
THERE has been plenty of focus on the politics of What’s Going On this year, as Marvin Gaye’s crowning achievement turns 50. Soaked in the blood of war, of racial hatred, poverty, struggle, and a crumbling ecology, there’s likely no better expression of our current predicament than the one he put on record in Detroit and West Hollywood five decades ago.
As with so much great political art, its relevance is sustained more by the questions it asks than any concrete answer it gives; the album never really finds the solution to its title’s query except to reaffirm it as a statement — on telling harsh truths, and offering solidarity to those suffering through them.
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