All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, BBC Two | reviews, news & interviews
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, BBC Two
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, BBC Two
From Ayn Rand to Silicon Valley to Wall Street in one giant bound
Monday, 23 May 2011
Look out for daring parabolic narratives and exotic detours in Adam Curtis's new series
As The Observer once put it, an abiding theme of Adam Curtis's documentaries "has been to look at how different elites have tried to impose an ideology on their times, and the tragicomic consequences of those attempts". This neatly sums up the essence of Curtis's new three-part series - though it looks like being more tragic than comic - which began with a daring parabolic narrative which soared from the monomaniac philosophies of Ayn Rand across California's Silicon Valley to the Clinton White House and Alan Greenspan's basilisk-like reign on Wall Street.
As The Observer once put it, an abiding theme of Adam Curtis's documentaries "has been to look at how different elites have tried to impose an ideology on their times, and the tragicomic consequences of those attempts". This neatly sums up the essence of Curtis's new three-part series - though it looks like being more tragic than comic - which began with a daring parabolic narrative which soared from the monomaniac philosophies of Ayn Rand across California's Silicon Valley to the Clinton White House and Alan Greenspan's basilisk-like reign on Wall Street.
Add comment
The future of Arts Journalism
You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!
We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d
And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more TV
Vietnam: The War That Changed America, Apple TV+ review - painful and poignant stories from a terrible conflict
Fifty years later, the wounds still haven't healed
Paradise, Disney+ review - enigmatic drama with an unknown destination
Dan Fogelman's new series has an excellent cast but a recycled premise
Brian and Maggie, Channel 4 review - Thatcherism's date with TV destiny
James Graham's dramatisation of Brian Walden's fateful 1989 interview
Prime Target, Apple TV+ review - the appliance of science
Boffins and baddies collide in Steve Thompson's complicated thriller
Out There, ITV1 review - drugs and thugs disfigure the Welsh landscape
Martin Clunes stars in Ed Whitmore's smartly-written drama
What's the Matter with Tony Slattery?, BBC Two review - absorbing but troubling search for answers
RIP TONY SLATTERY How mental illness cut short a brilliant showbusiness career
American Primeval, Netflix review - nightmare on the Wild Frontier
Peter Berg's Western drama is grim but gripping
Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, Sky Atlantic review - Colin Firth stars in gruelling dramatisation of the 1988 terror attack
Will we ever hear the full story of what happened to Pan Am Flight 103?
SAS Rogue Heroes, Series 2, BBC One review - Paddy Mayne's renegade warriors invade Italy
Second helping of Steven Knight's hard-rockin' World War Two drama
The Split: Barcelona, BBC One review - a soapy special with seasonally adjusted sentimentality
Abi Morgan's fine legal drama loses its sting on foreign soil
Best of 2024: TV
Stars of stage and big screen all want to be on the telly
Gavin & Stacey: The Finale, BBC One review - hilarious high five to an indelible cast of characters
In Nessa, Ruth Jones has left behind a unique comic creation
Comments
...
...