In these unprecedented times, it’s comforting to know there’s always ClickView. The collection of recently added videos is the usual melange of informative, educational, and entertaining – a little bit of something for everyone.
Some recent releases – Fences and Spider-Man, and some classics – Coppola’s The Conversation, Polanski’s Chinatown, and Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much. A couple of documentary series focussing on women – The Ascent of Woman for a broad look at the place of women in history, and then a docudrama (Suffragettes) on the struggle for the right to vote (in the UK – they were a bit behind us).
Of course, it wouldn’t be 2020 without a few programs on the current viral unpleasantness – so they’re there too if you just can’t get enough information on Covid 19.
The Plot against America is a dramatisation of Phillip Roth’s book, and looks at an alternative history where isolationist and Hitler fan, Charles Lindbergh, defeated Roosevelt in the 1940 election. Episodes will be added as they’re screened.
Dive into Opera Legends – Sutherland, Mario Lanza and more. Cook up a feast with Maeve O’Meara in Food Safari : Water. Discover the man behind Amazon, Jeff Bezos.
And there’s even a feast of Rocky – all the films, from the original through to Rocky V. That should make you forget the present!
As always, all these gems, plus over 7000 more, are available at clickview.com.au, and logging on with your Trinity email and usual Trinity password. If you’d like any programs added, contact me at pherlinger@trinity.nsw.edu.au – in advance if they’re on Foxtel, up to 2 weeks after broadcast for free-to-air, and even if it’s past that time, there’s still a chance, so always ask!
General
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Made during Hitchcock’s prolific British period, The Man Knew Too Much is a taut, stylish, edge-of-your-seat thriller from the unrivalled Master of Suspense. while holidaying in Switzerland with their daughter, Bob and Jill Lawrence befriend a dashing Frenchman by the name of Louis. Jill and Louis it it off immediately, teasing poor Bob with their good-natured flirting. But when Louis is shot in the middle of the dance floor, he informs Jill with his dying breath of a plot he’s discovered to assassinate a French statesman, instructing her to go to the authorities with the evidence he hid in his shaving brush. But just as they are about to inform the British consul, they discover that their beloved daughter, Betty, has been kidnapped by thugs who wish to keep them silent… What will the plucky British pair do? Rated PG.
The Conversation
Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 masterpiece. A routine wiretapping job turns into a nightmare when Harry, a surveillance man, hears something disturbing in his recording of a young couple in a park. His investigation of the tape and how it might be used sends Harry spiraling into a web of secrecy, murder, and paranoia. Rated M.
Revelation
Award-winning reporter Sarah Ferguson presents Revelation, a ground-breaking documentary series on the criminal priests and brothers of the Catholic Church, their crimes laid bare for the first time in their own words. Rated MA.
Q&A : Education : Are we failing?
Are Aussie kids getting the education they need? Our global education ranking has plunged, results in reading, maths and science are in decline, and a toxic culture of sexism and bullying persists in too many high schools. Unrated.
Valkyrie
A dramatisation of the July 20, 1944 assassination and political coup plot by desperate renegade German Army officers against Adolf Hitler during World War II. Rated M.
Chinatown
A landmark movie in the film noir tradition, Roman Polanski’s Chinatown stands as a screen classic. Jack Nicholson is private eye Jake Gittes, living off the murky moral climate of pre-war California. Rated M.
Fences
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a Black garbage collector named Troy Maxson – bitter that baseball’s colour barrier was only broken after his own heyday in the Negro Leagues – is prone to taking out his frustrations on his loved ones. Rated PG.
Spider-Man : Far from Home
Peter Parker returns in Spider-Man: Far From Home, following the events of Avengers: Endgame. Our friendly neighbourhood Super Hero decides to join his best friends Ned, MJ and the rest of the gang on a European holiday. However, Peter’s plan to leave super heroics behind for a few weeks are quickly scrapped when he begrudgingly agrees to help Nick Fury uncover the mystery of several elemental creature attacks, creating havoc across the continent. Rated M.
Australian Story : When Worlds Collide : Vicki Xu
The journalist and comedian paying a high price for dissent. Vicky Xu is an outspoken critic of China whose pursuit of stories about human rights and the mass detention of Uyghurs means she doesn’t feel safe to return home. Unrated.
The Plot against America
A working-class Jewish family in New Jersey watches the political rise of aviator-hero and xenophobic populist Charles Lindbergh, as he becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. This six-part re-imagining of history is based on the Philip Roth novel of the same name. Rated MA. Episodes will be added as they are screened.
Rocky is the story of a loser, a two-bit boxer who gets a second chance in life by being offered an impossible shot at the heavyweight title. And then goes on to make movies II – V. Rated M, or PG.
Covid 19 Programs
Q&A Special : Ask the Doctors : Corona Virus
With Coronavirus spreading and stricter controls in place, the need for clear medical information has become paramount. Q+A asks medical experts Dr Norman Swan, Prof Paul Kelly and Prof Sharon Lewin to answer your questions. Unrated.
Foreign Correspondent : Life in the Time of Corona
Europe’s Coronavirus epicentre and a system at breaking point. Italy in lockdown with thousands of new cases reported every day, hospitals in the north swamped and patients young and old are dying. Rated G.
With the Coronavirus epidemic now set to last for many months, and government introducing stricter controls, the need for good clear medical information has become paramount. Q+A turns to medical experts Dr Norman Swan, Professor Paul Kelly and Professor Sharon Lewin to answer your questions.
Economics
Amazon Empire : The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos is not only one of the richest men in the world, he has built a business empire that is without precedent in the history of American capitalism. His power to shape everything from the future of work to the future of commerce to the future of technology is unrivaled. As politicians and regulators around the world start to consider the global impact of Amazon—and how to reign in Bezos’ power—FRONTLINE investigates how he executed a plan to build one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world. With interviews of current and former insiders as well as regulators and critics, this film raises important questions about Jeff Bezos and the empire he built. Rated PG.
History
Suffragettes (with Lucy Worsley)
Documentary, presented by Lucy Worsley, which uses dramatised testimony to tell the story of a group of working-class women conducting a dangerous campaign for the vote. Rated PG.
The Ascent of Woman
A groundbreaking four-part documentary series originally created for BBC2 in the UK that charts the role of women in society over the course of 10,000 years. Dr. Amanda Foreman’s landmark series is the first ever documentary to present the history of women from the dawn of civilisation to the modern day. The Ascent of Woman argues that the history of women isn’t a straight line from Eve’s apple to Margaret Sanger’s Pill. Instead, over the past ten thousand years it has veered wildly between extremes of freedom and oppression, inclusion and exclusion.
The reason is that the status of women is a barometer of a society’s tolerance, fairness and openness. A poor record on women’s rights goes hand-in-hand with low economic output and high levels of violence. Amanda argues that for the next economic cycle to be the age of full participation, there has to be a woman-led revolution that unleashes the potential of all individuals. At stake are the goals of autonomy, authority and agency for all women.
Gulag : The Story
A major political, historical, human and economic fact of the 20th century, the Gulag, the extremely punitive Soviet concentration camp system, remains largely unknown.
The history of the Gulag is long, complex and in many ways out of the ordinary. From the Revolution of 1917 to Gorbachev, touching on the civil war, the Great Terror, World War II, the Cold War and the death of Stalin, this series describes the workings of the Gulag.
How and why did the USSR create this system of forced- labour camps in which 20 million prisoners were exploited and worked to the bone?
Through the exceptional fates of numerous protagonists, both executioners and victims, the history of the Gulag is deciphered with previously-unreleased documentary sources and the help of renowned historians and Gulag experts. Rated M. (Episodes will be added as they’re recorded)
Hospitality
Food Safari : Water
Food Safari Water is a vibrant, comprehensive 13-part series which not only showcases the great seafood dishes of the world, but it also explores the traditions of catching and preserving fish, shellfish, crustaceans and sea vegetables – a celebration of hardworking fishermen and women, divers and foragers, processors and smokers as well the brilliant chefs and home cooks who share their treasured recipes and techniques. Covering cuisines as diverse as Senegalese, Sri Lankan, Greek, Spanish, Peruvian, Lebanese, Turkish, Thai, English and Brazilian, Water taps into a glorious exploration of the bounty of the water – many refer to seafood as the ‘best protein on the planet”, says O’Meara. Rated G. (Episodes will be added as they’re recorded)
Languages
French
Gauguin : Voyage to Tahiti = Gauguin : Voyage de Tahiti
Paul Gauguin feels smothered by the atmosphere prevailing in Paris in the year 1891. Around him, everything is so artificial and conventional: he needs authenticity to renew his art. Failing to convince his wife Mette and his five children to follow him to Paradise Lost, he sets out for Tahiti alone. Once there, he chooses to settle down in Mataiera, a village far away from Papeete, installing himself in a native-made hut. He soon starts working passionately, painting and carving in a style close to the primitive art specific to the island. During his two-year stay the artist will experience poverty, cardiac problems and other displeasures but also happiness in the arms of Tehura, a beautiful young native girl. Rated M.
Japanese
Summer Wars = Samā Wōzu
Kenji Koiso, an eleventh grade math genius, solves a complex equation and inadvertently puts a virtual world’s artificial intelligence in a position to destroy the earth. Rated PG.
Music
Opera Legends
Featuring classic moments in the careers of twelve legends of Opera, from Luciano Pavarotti to Enrico Caruso, Joan Sutherland to Kiri Te Kanawa and Jessye Norman to Mario Lanza. Filmed in in the United Kingdom and Italy, each episode features historical archive, performance highlights, and contributions from artists, critics and directors. Rated PG. (Episodes will be added as they’re recorded)
