PAUL DONOVAN applauds an intriguing multi-layered depiction, dominated by a stunning impersonation of Marilyn herself
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The power of mass demonstration
ANDREW MURRAY is compelled by the moment of revolution in British history when Parliament had political intimacy with society
Assertion of Liberty of Conscience by the Independents of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, by John Rogers Herbert, 1847. It depicts a meeting of the Westminster Assembly on 21 February 1644. Philip Nye, a member of the independent party, argues that the form of church government advocated by the presbyterians, under which local congregations submit to higher assemblies of elders, was "thrice over pernicious, to civil states and kingdoms". He was immediately "cryed down", according to Robert Baillie, who kept a journal of the proceedings. The painting depicts many individuals who were not members of the Assembly, because when issues of particular interest were debated, non-members would attend as spectators.
[Public Domain]
LEO BOIX applauds an audacious, self-questioning film about grief, friendship and film-making
MARY CONWAY admires a brave and topical study of Armageddon that is, unfortunately, unable to come to a conclusion
ANDY HEDGECOCK, JAMES WALSH and JAMIE BRITTON review Hanging by a Wire, I Want Your Sex, The Pout-Pout Fish, and Rise of the Foot Soldier: Retribution
Chris Searle speaks to US pianist RAN BLAKE
The Bard hands out medals for his Edinburgh campaign and urges us to support The Men They Couldn’t Hang
The Fiery Spirits
John Rees, Verso, £30
CONNECTING mass political movements with parliamentary representation is a perennial issue for the left in Britain and, indeed, elsewhere.
It is correct to say that the former — the struggle beyond the Palace of Westminster — is the determining factor in political outcomes, but also true that parliamentary articulation can help shape and empower the movement, even as MPs draw strength from it.
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