A dramatization, in modern theatrical style, of the life and thought of the Viennese-born, Cambridge-educated philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose principal interest was the nature and limits of language. A series of sketches depict the unfolding of his life from boyhood, through the era of the first World War, to his eventual Cambridge professorship and association with Bertrand Russell and John Maynard Keynes. The emphasis in these sketches is on the exposition of the ideas of Wittgenstein, a homosexual, and an intuitive, moody, proud, and perfectionistic thinker generally regarded as a genius.
Growing up in a Ukrainian peasant family, knowing all hardships of serf life, young artist and poet Taras Shevchenko in the years of study clearly identifies the meaning of true art, which is to serve the interests of the people. The poems of Shevchenko are imbued with love for the common people. Fiery freedom-loving creativity of Taras Shevchenko is known throughout Russia. Nicholas I exiles the poet to the distant Caspian fort where he is to serve as an ordinary soldier and is banned from writing or drawing. In the poet's difficult days he has the support of Ukrainian soldier Skobelev, Polish revolutionary Sierakowski, captain Kosarev and the commandant of the fortress, Uskov. For the sake of his release Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov are hard at work. And so, the sick and aged Shevchenko is finally free. Together with Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov, he dreams of a bright future of the motherland, when the Russian and Ukrainian peoples throw off the chains of slavery.
Gallura, the mid-1800s. The feud between the Vasa and Mamia families – historically documented – is causing bloodshed in the region. Bastiano Tansu, a deaf-mute since birth, is one of its protagonists. Mistreated and marginalized since his childhood, after his brother Michele was murdered he joined forces with one of the two leaders of the factions, Pietro Vasa, and put at his service his fury and his amazing aim, becoming a highly feared assassin. The State and the Church try to stem the wave of terror and only after more than 70 deaths, the peace of Aggius arrives. At first, Bastiano finds peace in his love for a pastor's daughter, but in a violent and superstitious world that already labeled him the devil's son when he was just a boy, someone like him cannot be found innocent. Thus, he chooses to confront his own destiny.
After World War II, 4,000 Polish families came to Australia. They were Jews, Fascists, anti-Communists, and others dispossessed. In a large hostel, where even married men and women were housed in separate barracks, the adults lived for two years while they worked off the government's payment of their passage. Even though he is married to Anna and has a son, Julian falls in love with Nina and she with him. As they and others face the new situations and prejudices that await immigrants and as they take on aspects of Australian culture, old-country values reassert themselves. Julian decides what to do about love and family, and Nina must find a way to move on.
Andrew O'Hagan looks at a critical point in the life of Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac. In 1956 he spent spent 63 soul-searching days as a fire-watcher on Washington state's Desolation Peak. After this stint he was never the same creative force again.
Perhaps the most beloved (and indisputably the greatest) American president, Abraham Lincoln was, in many ways, an enigma -- equally loved and hated in his lifetime. What drove John Wilkes Booth to assassinate Lincoln? Was the Confederate government behind the plot? The questions that have haunted Americans for more than 100 years are finally answered in this fascinating documentary that employs forensic experts as well as noted historians.
In August 1966, the Cultural Revolution in full swing, 13-year-old Tian Ben is arrested for playing a pop record; he's sent to a remote mountain camp in Niu-Peng. There he's called "Four Eyes" and, with about 16 other older boys and men, he's made to carry muck up a mountainside, make bricks, saw logs, and sing daily to Chairman Mao of his faults. There's camaraderie among the five youths, especially with a young pickpocket named Baimao, and Tian is also drawn to a silent monk who cares for him when he falls ill and the others expect him to die. The camp is remote, so there are no fences or walls. Tian longs to escape.
Blending drama with the explanations of passionate historians and specialists, this enriched historical reconstruction traces 60 years in the life a man who transformed the Middle Ages and laid the foundation of modern Europe, William The Conqueror.
The amazing story of the animograph, a machine created in France in the sixties by the cartoonist and self-taught inventor Jean Dejoux (1922-2015), whose creation was intended to revolutionize the animation industry.
The widowed Duchess of Malfi longs to marry her lover, the steward Antonio. But her rancorous brothers, Ferdinand and the Cardinal, are implacably opposed to the match. When their spy, Bosola, discovers that the Duchess has secretly married and carries Antonio’s child, they exact a terrible and horrific revenge.
A dramatization of a wedding in 16th-century Russia, between members of two prominent boyar families (based on paintings by Konstantin Makovskii): Three matchmakers first visit the family of the prospective bride, and then do the same with the prospective bridegroom's family. Later, as the time of the wedding draws near, the bride is dressed with great formality and prepared for the ceremony, as the guests get ready to celebrate the upcoming wedding.
The early life of Roman ruler Julius Caesar as told in three working prisons in South Africa, the UK and Canada. A small group of professional actors is joined by a cast of real-life inmates to tell the story of one of history's foremost personalities.
Gustl Leubelfing, daughter of the mayor of Nuremberg adores the king of the Swedes. So she happily substitutes her brother as Gustav Adolf's page instead of marrying her fiancée Roland. Of course she has to hide that she's a woman, especially when they go into war against Wallenstein.