Made in 2013 for the 100th anniversary of Britten’s birth, this is Tony Palmer’s
5th film with and about this tortured composer.
After its first screening, critic Simon Heffer wrote: “I have rarely seen such a profoundly troubling film. Palmer is a master, and this is his masterpiece”. With interviews including Peter Pears, Janet Baker, Simon Rattle, Yehudi Menuhin, Irina Shostakovich and Britten himself, the film tells the story of a deeply troubled man whose own masterpiece, ‘War Requiem’, almost didn’t happen. “My subject is war”, Britten wrote as a preface, quoting Wilfred Owen. “All a poet can do is warn.” This film with its political message is perhaps that warning. Tony Palmer
UK 2013 Tony Palmer 135m
Sun 17 May 14:15
Tickets £8
