TV
PREVIEW The Late Michael Clark BBC2,T1’“;. 211 Fer), 11.20pm
Dead can dance: The Late Michael Clark
No, the ‘oriiie' 'bad boy' oi Brit'in dance "'rasri't gore to that great mirror- l'r‘ed stadio :I‘ the sky Rather, the title of This very postn‘oderr‘, narration— and-tuft-"phexanfree documc-rntary :s director Sophie sister of Ralph, loser)". and Martha l-sennes' ackr‘oxmedgeir‘e'it of Clark's return f'o'r‘ metaphorical career death
\i'v’ith l.I'c ltaei Clark's Modern f/faste/‘piece aka l‘vllllf'lll‘ land 0, (Tark procl:.ceci two of tne preVious dect de's ".‘.( st I'I("tl().'cll)l(‘ dance performances r’\fterv-.’ards, to all intents and purposes, he dropped off the creative face 0‘ the earth Much of the period betvvxeer‘ 1994 and Clark's public resurfacing, four years later, was spent n the company of his loving ilow e.se for a good lad to recuperate from injury, addiction and confused ego than by going back to his roots an 'I()."ll‘.(’clSi(‘l'II Scotland7 lierines deals ‘.'\.’llll all of this background in a few deft strokes lhe piece opens mtn Clark and mum
PREVIEW Sex And The City
Channel 4, starts Wed 1 Mar, 10pm.
Single belles: Sex And The City
Sex And The City, the Manhattan- basecl comedy series focussing on the tsexl lives of a copulation columnist and her friends, is back The first look at the adventures in singledom of Carrie gournalist on the hunt for Mr Righti, Charlotte lthe pragmatic one), Miranda (the feisty one) and Samantha lthe old slapper of the guartet), stirred up a bit of a furore due to its supposedly explicit themes But the dust settled pretty quickly when those tuning in eager for a glimpse of naked flesh and a spot of how's your father realised that, by British standards, it wasn’t half as racy as it was cracked up
100 THE “ST I7 Feb-2 I-.lar 2000
ca"‘.p "-c; t an, no'ee movie-st. e, on the pearl Heaths." -e, tne soundtrack treats as to a ;)3c’>ti‘c;ra of, presumably igno'c-d, ans‘~.'.erntacnine messages There's plenty of reriearsaz and backstage rr‘iaterial :ncluding close-ups of Clark's gorgeoasly-shaped feet. and do'restlc detail Clark headed to the ;aundrette as the PR-led comeback irtac‘i‘ariery kicks in Clark less sleepy than usual during a radio interviewl prior to the premiere of I998's stripped-down CURRENT/See
The real meat of the programme is the footage from this dance, set to the fundamental monster rock of Susan Stenger's multiple bass-guitar band Big Bottom Whether or not Clark’s risen- from-thc-)-grave, back-to-basics choreography vi'OuId’ve yielded images of a similarly high calibre from any other director is beside the point The fact is, he and long-time associate Fiennes have come up With spectacularly good Visuals Intercut with all the grainy, hand held offstage stuff, the monumentally spare, shard- like segments of Clark and company performing CURRENT/See are almost hloodlessly iriimaculate, yet electric If anything, the dance looks and feels better than it did live You can sense that the deceptively subdued Clark is still testing his chosen art form’s limits, but \vith considerably more maturity than before
leis is not at all a definitive portrait of an artist, but rather a putting-on‘a- show flick of kick-ass cool Hard to say, however, whether anyone apart from diehard dance fans will stick With it 'Donald Huterai
to he
That said, sc'hmaltz and the abnormal ratio of beautiful people to ordinary mortals aside, it managed to deal With the more sensitive aspects of dom' the nasty and men's sexual fOibles wrth canclour and humour
Thankfully, the second series offers more of the same The opening episode centres on the anatomy of 'The Break Up’ and sees Carrie atteiripting to come to terms With the end of her relationship With the man who was en route to becoming the love of her life Her rehabilitation process consists of receivmg conflicting advice from her girlfriends, weeping, wailing and then throwmg herself headlong, heart first back into the dating game The funniest moments are supplied by Samantha’s deliciously vulgar one-liners and the scene in which she barks instructions at her man in bed to try and compensate for his, ahem, shortcorriings in the lovemaking department
The characters aren't particularly likeable or engaging because they're all pretty self-indulgent, have high-flying, c‘ovetable Jobs and generally look like the kind of females who actually live the unobtainable-for-most kind of lifestyles which are glorified by glosSy women’s magazmes Yet the programme is still very watchable, and is worth sticking at as it deals With the small, but nevertheless universal, truths about sex that form the basis of rumour, COHJE‘CIUTE‘ and folklore for everyone lDawn Kofiel
PREVIEW Great Military Blunders Channel 4, starts Thu 24 Feb, 8pm. Napoleon was a great \Nclrl'iol' H~s arrogance and self belief gave him magnificence but were also responsible for his downfall
‘Gods And Monsters, the first of four Great Military B/cinders, looks at the human fallacies which eventually undid three military heroes The tactics of Monty brought him both African Victory in World War II and hero worship Infused with the taste of power, he sulked at not being given the army’s reins, overlooking his JOl) at hand It cost 8000 men their lives
War shames: Great Military Blunders
In World War I, General Sir Charles Townshend‘s brilliance was tainted by llls ambition His eventual capture took him to a luxury yacht in Itiikev hut 40,000
troops died following his command
And if you thought MacArthur, the American military genius responsibie for rebuilding Japan was a hero, then think again He almost brought the \‘t'est nuclear war With China, forcmg President human to do some major l)tlii~llc king
(Ally Hardy)
PREVIEW
The Real Lena Zavaroni
Channel 4, Wed 23 Feb, 10pm.
On 6 January 1974, Hughie Green introduced a ten-year-old redhead from the Isle of Bute to the Opportunity Knocks audience Overnight, Lena Zavaroni went from Winning the local talent contest to household name Under the guardianship of her agent, the little girl With the big v0ice left her island home and Within a few short months had toured Japan and the US, sang to President Ford, met Frank Sinatra and taken residence on LOndon's swanky Park Lane.
Separated from her parents at an early age, torn by the pressures of fame - the path to anoreXia is clearly marked, leading the singer from the height of fame to drawmg the dole
Wasted talent: The Real Lena Zavaroni
and her eventual death last year An intimate account of a tragic life coriiprising intervrews wrth friends and family, peppered With clips of that amazing voice in action, The Real Lena Zavaroni iS a fascmating insight, and deeply sad
(Kelly Apter)
REVIEW The F Word Scottish, Mon I4 Feb *
Oh, saints preserve us from wacky lifestyle programmes. Anything which describes itself as ‘completely bonkers' is jUSl asking to have scorn poured on it by the bucketload
The basic premise of this new fashion magazme is to show ‘real people' livmg la Vida loca, which, in theory, is a great idea However, said people come across as so horrendoust self-consCious it brings tears of embarrassment to the eyes Pity the poor girl who is given a new look from a workwear shop. Braver posing in her lilac art smock and chef's headscarf, she claims to be delighted, but \Nlll she ever wear it again7 Undoubtedly not
F is for farce: The F Word
Every aspect of this show, from the expeditions to ’underground' shopping haunts, to the vrdeo diary, to the presenters' style is so rough arOund the edges it w0u|d take a good few hours With an industrial sander for it to approximate a professional programme The F word in question is ’farce' fKITSiy Knaggsi