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Fri, Dec 13, 2019
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Mikhail Khodorkovsky behind a glass wall at a courtroom in Moscow in December 2010 on embezzlement charges relating to his oil company Yukos. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images Alex Gibney: ‘I think he is still angry at Putin. I think there’s a burning fury in him’
  • Film
  • Tara Brady
  • December 13, 2019, 06:00

Alex Gibney’s new film, Citizen K, profiles fallen Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky

The Royal Baby rules the British with a chubby fist of iron The Royal Baby rules the British with a chubby fist of iron
  • Culture
  • Patrick Freyne
  • December 13, 2019, 05:00

Patrick Freyne on the ascent of Amber, from investigative journalist to modern-medieval queen

Harry Styles: Fine Line review – A journey of sex, sadness and self-discovery Harry Styles: Fine Line review – A journey of sex, sadness and self-discovery
  • Music
  • Louise Bruton
  • December 13, 2019, 05:00

Selling us heartbreak with a Californian suntan, Styles walks that Fine Line of playing around and playing with hearts

Éilis from the Flats: Powerful depictions of urban poverty Éilis from the Flats: Powerful depictions of urban poverty
  • Books
  • Joanne Hayden
  • December 13, 2019, 06:00

Book review: Unanswered questions mean potential is unrealised in Paul Larkin’s novel

The movie quiz: Spot the Star Wars movie anagram The movie quiz: Spot the Star Wars movie anagram
  • Film
  • Donald Clarke
  • December 13, 2019, 05:00

Plus: Naming the non-Polanski and soundtracking Guardians of the Galaxy

Six of the best films to see in the cinema this weekend Six of the best films to see in the cinema this weekend
  • Film
  • Donald Clarke
  • December 13, 2019, 05:30

New this weekend: Beanpole, Citizen K, The Kingmaker, Jumanji: The Next Level, Fiddler: Miracle of Miracles

Beanpole: remarkable look at the trauma of war Beanpole: remarkable look at the trauma of war
  • Film
  • Tara Brady
  • December 13, 2019, 05:00

Review: Each sequence of the film set in postwar Russia brings fresh horror and new intrigue

Olga Tokarczuk’s Nobel lecture: ‘Tenderness is the most modest form of love’ Olga Tokarczuk’s Nobel lecture: ‘Tenderness is the most modest form of love’
  • Books
  • Olga Tokarczuk
  • December 13, 2019, 05:14

The award-winning Polish author explores the power of fiction in our era of fake news

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – ‘It’s a war to do a movie like this’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – ‘It’s a war to do a movie like this’
  • Film
  • Dave Itzkoff
  • December 12, 2019, 10:35

JJ Abrams, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac on making Episode IX

The Funeral Director: An exquisite, profound portrait of a profession The Funeral Director: An exquisite, profound portrait of a profession
  • TV, Radio, Web
  • Peter Crawley
  • December 12, 2019, 12:47

Watching this disarming documentary, you find yourself considering your own mortality

Latest Film

Mikhail Khodorkovsky behind a glass wall at a courtroom in Moscow in December 2010 on embezzlement charges relating to his oil company Yukos. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images Alex Gibney: ‘I think he is still angry at Putin. I think there’s a burning fury in him’
The womanly faces of war: Beanpole, on limited release Six of the best films to see in the cinema this weekend
Fans dressed as Star Wars characters march during the 88th annual Hollywood Christmas Parade on December 1st. Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP The movie quiz: Spot the Star Wars movie anagram
  • Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – ‘It’s a war to do a movie like this’
  • Screen Actors Guild awards: have Saoirse Ronan’s Oscar hopes been dented?

Film Reviews

Beanpole: Directed by Kantemir Balagov. Starring Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina, Konstantin Balakirev, Andrey Bykov Beanpole

 
One of Miracle of Miracle’s themes is Fiddler on the Roof’s connection with the Jewish diaspora in the United States Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles

 
Imprisoned former head of Yukos oil company Mikhail Khodorkovsky stands in the defendant’s box during his trial in the court in Moscow, September 9th, 2004. Photograph: Tatyana Makeyeva/AFP/Getty Images Citizen K

 
Imelda Marcos in The Kingmaker. Photograph: Lauren Greenfield The Kingmaker

 

TV & Radio

‘We’d be surrounded by death every week,’ says funeral director David McGowan. ‘It’s normal’ The Funeral Director: An exquisite, profound portrait of a profession

Watching this disarming documentary, you find yourself considering your own mortality

The botanist, writer and broadcaster Prof David Bellamy in 2002. File photograph: Frank Miller Naturalist David Bellamy dies aged 86
Trumpstreet art by Subset, shown in Wonder Walls Spray it, don’t say it: The story of Irish street art
  • In League with Gaddafi: This folly wouldn’t make top five of Irish football fiascos
  • TV guide: 18 of the best shows to watch this week

Latest Books

Vesna Main: “while the longevity of the novel demonstrates its ability to remain relevant to us, the genre’s continued vitality has been maintained by its ever-changing form” Sexuality and metatextuality – a novel in dialogue

A new way of looking at gender roles, marriage, prostitution, fiction and reality

Olga Tokarczuk at the London Book Fair in 2017. Photograph: EPA/Facundo Arrizabalaga Olga Tokarczuk’s Nobel lecture: ‘Tenderness is the most modest form of love’
My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite is Irish Times Eason offer
  • Waterford Whispers News predicts the headlines of 2020
  • Speedway grand prix: a race to the outskirts of Europe

Latest Music

Hozier performing at 3Arena in Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan Hozier in Dublin review: One song elicits a cheer like no other

The show begins and the 3Arena roars ... Crowds don’t get much friendlier than this

Marie Fredriksson performing in Sydney in 2012. Photograph: EPA/Tracey Nearmy Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson dies aged 61
Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten. Photograph: Visionhaus Fontaines D.C. come home: Vicar Street erupts in ecstasy
  • Hozier at 3Arena, Dublin: Everything you need to know
  • The best music of 2019: Albums, gigs, bands and songs

Album Reviews

Various Artists: Odyssey: The Sound Of Ivor Raymonde Vol II

 
Annie Hart: A Softer Offering

 
Harry Styles: Fine Line

 
The result is nothing less than all killer, no filler.  Various Artists: Killing Eve OST Seasons 1 & 2

 
Hail the Ghost: Arrhythmia

 
Burial: Tunes 2011-2019

 

Book Reviews

Éilis from the Flats: Powerful depictions of urban poverty
In Defence of Open Society: George Soros’s worldview laid out
Best debuts of 2019: despite perennial difficulties, talent has emerged
Thatcher’s Spy: MI5’s man in Sinn Féin looks back over his shoulder

Stage

The Abbey Theatre: ‘We are not in a position to stand over this document.’ Photograph: Dara Mac Donaill/The Irish Times Abbey Theatre disputes record of talks with theatre workers

National theatre says notes not ‘sufficiently accurate’ as facilitator stands over record

Cinderella stars Jenny Dixon, Jake Carter, Alan Hughes and Michele McGrath. Photograph: Leon Farrell/Photocall Cinderella review: Like being slapped in the face by a rainbow
Drama at Inish, directed by Cal McCrystal, is running at the Abbey Theatre until January 24th, 2020. Photograph: Ros Kavanagh What’s going on at the Abbey: heated exchanges, impassioned defences and disputed records
  • Abbey accused of reneging on promise of more Irish plays
  • ‘It’s above you’: How the Gaiety made Aladdin’s magic carpet fly

Art & Design

Christmas window in Harrods, London, 2012. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images Send us a photo of your favourite Christmas shop window

The Irish Times is on the lookout for the best Christmas shop windows in Ireland

Michael Robinson, Onward Lossless Follows, 2017, HD, 17 min. Image courtesy of the artist and Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago Michael Robinson’s RHA exhibition feels like the future
Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s piece ‘Comedian’ (a banana duct taped to the wall) is shown during Art Basel in Miami, Florida. Photograph: Rhona Wise/EPA Banana artwork valued at €108,000 is eaten by visitor
  • Art in Focus: Hughie O’Donoghue – House Number 8
  • The week’s best art exhibitions: From Suan Mannion to Gabhann Dunne

Unthinkable

Friedrich Nietzsche: ‘Unfairly’ characterised as the father of nihilism. Photograph: Culture Club/Getty Why Nietzsche wouldn't go near social media

Unthinkable: Technology turning us into ‘passive nihilists’, says philosopher Nolen Gertz

‘On its own, the question of whether or not there is a God is interesting in the abstract, but not very relevant to daily life,’ says historian of religion Alec Ryrie. Photograph: Getty Images Can you be both a Christian and an unbeliever?
TCD professor emeritus David Berman: ‘I was about six or seven when I had what is sometimes described as an “I am me” experience.’ Photograph: Dave Meehan Is your ‘true self’ a kind of ghost?
  • Can European civilisation survive the death of Christianity?
  • Can women ever get a fair deal under capitalism?

Heritage

Archaeological assistants uncover the fosse of the medieval Carrickmines Castle at Carrickmines, Co Dublin, in 2002. Photograph: Joe St Leger Why have thousands of archaeological sites ‘disappeared’?

While the archaeologists have been busy finding new monuments of interest, the State has been busy facilitating their systematic removal

Late night Christmas shopping in Dunnes Stores in 1997. Photograph: Frank Miller December 8th: The day when people ‘from the country’ came to Dublin to shop
A view of Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2. Strong women, wealth and a boat disaster: The remarkable history of one Dublin building
  • Recreation of Irish archive lost in 1922 fire to get €2.5m boost
  • Retrieval of Irish archive lost in 1922 fire ‘astounding’, historian says

Michael Viney's Another Life

Illustration: Michael Viney Poisoned and preyless: obstacles to rewilding Ireland with eagles

Restoring the golden eagle to the west has found the limits to bringing back a carnivore

“Like our neighbours, we once depended wholly on the stream, piped to the house by gravity from one of its higher pools.” Nature takes refuge as drought dries the landscape
“The view from the top balcony can be sublime.” Illustration: Michael Viney Clifftops have given me some of the high point of my life
  • For peat’s sake, our uplands need rain – just not too much at once
  • Michael Viney: The beauty of weeping beeches

Tuarascáil

‘Dhéanfadh sé leas an airm againn féin an trealamh is déanaí agus is nuashnasta a fháil mar mhalairt ar na seanbhaingir ina ngluaiseann siad faoi láthair.’ Grianghraf: Alan Betson Díospóireacht eile

Is den riachtanas dul isteach leis na buachaillí móra toisc gur gá dúinn sinn féin a chosaint

Príomhfheidhmeannach Fhoras na Gaeilge Seán Ó Coinn. Grianghraf: Alan Betson/The Irish Times In am treisiú a dhéanamh ar mhór-ráiteas na Gaeilge 2006 - Ó Coinn
Cuireadh fearadh na fáilte roimhe nuair a fógraíodh i 2005 go ndéanfaí teanga oifigiúil agus oibre de chuid an Aontas Eorpaigh den Ghaeilge ó 2007 ar aghaidh. Gaeilge san AE: an cruinneas ‘an cháilíocht is mó atá ann’
  • An dlí mar a gheobhaidh
  • Leithscéalta agus leithscéalta

Sponsored

Whiskey wonderland: what we’re buying everyone this Christmas Whiskey wonderland: what we’re buying everyone this Christmas

Resident experts at the Irish Whiskey Museum give their verdict on the whiskey gifts that they’ll be buying this year for Christma

Verdi's greatest masterpiece La Traviata set for Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Verdi's greatest masterpiece La Traviata set for Bord Gáis Energy Theatre

The Novaya Opera of Moscow’s La Traviata is coming to the Bord Gais Energy Theatre from November 25th until 29th, 2020

Subscriber Only

Edgy urban setting of Dublin is vividly evoked. Photograph Nick Bradshaw Éilis from the Flats: Powerful depictions of urban poverty
George Soros: Orbán running a ‘mafia state’ in Hungary. Photograph: Oliver Hoslet/AFP/Getty In Defence of Open Society: George Soros’s worldview laid out
Sarah-Davis Goff’s Last Ones Left Alive is an inventive, vividly realised feminist dystopia. Best debuts of 2019: despite perennial difficulties, talent has emerged
The Revolution Files Highlights from the Military Archives with reports from every county
 

Most Read in Culture

1 Modernising the monarchy does not, as far as Amber is concerned, need to involve introducing democratic reforms or the redistribution of wealth or abolishing the monarchy. Photograph: Cos Aelenei The Royal Baby rules the British with a chubby fist of iron
2 ‘We’d be surrounded by death every week,’ says funeral director David McGowan. ‘It’s normal’ The Funeral Director: An exquisite, profound portrait of a profession
3 Fans dressed as Star Wars characters march during the 88th annual Hollywood Christmas Parade on December 1st. Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP The movie quiz: Spot the Star Wars movie anagram
4 News you can use: 2020 will be dominated by Great Gatsby costume parties, because, good God, we’re awful creatures devoid of any real creativity or originality. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill Waterford Whispers News predicts the headlines of 2020
5 Friedrich Nietzsche: ‘Unfairly’ characterised as the father of nihilism. Photograph: Culture Club/Getty Why Nietzsche wouldn't go near social media
6 Beanpole: Directed by Kantemir Balagov. Starring Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina, Konstantin Balakirev, Andrey Bykov Beanpole: remarkable look at the trauma of war
7 Harry Styles: Fine Line review – A journey of sex, sadness and self-discovery
8 Mikhail Khodorkovsky behind a glass wall at a courtroom in Moscow in December 2010 on embezzlement charges relating to his oil company Yukos. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images Alex Gibney: ‘I think he is still angry at Putin. I think there’s a burning fury in him’
9 Olga Tokarczuk at the London Book Fair in 2017. Photograph: EPA/Facundo Arrizabalaga Olga Tokarczuk’s Nobel lecture: ‘Tenderness is the most modest form of love’
10 Imprisoned former head of Yukos oil company Mikhail Khodorkovsky stands in the defendant’s box during his trial in the court in Moscow, September 9th, 2004. Photograph: Tatyana Makeyeva/AFP/Getty Images Citizen K: Strange tale of the oligarch who turned on Putin
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Dublin Theatre Festival 2019 Reviews, news and interviews from Ireland’s premier theatre festival
 
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Google Podcasts

On My Culture Radar

Bronagh Gallagher: On My Culture Radar Bronagh Gallagher: On My Culture Radar

The actor and singer on why Blindboy merits a TV show, the political art of David Alfaro Siqueiros and the late, great Aretha Franklin

Lisa Harding: “handles a profoundly difficult issue with absolute care and multitudes of heart”
The Book Club Click to join in the discussion about this month's book, Harvesting by Lisa Harding
 
Atlantic Podcast A three-part series exploring the mystery of Peter Bergmann - the man who came to Sligo to disappear
 

Culture Videos

New state-of-the-art visitor experience opens at Brú na Bóinne3:17 New state-of-the-art visitor experience opens at Brú na Bóinne
The official trailer for James Bond No Time to Die released2:34 The official trailer for James Bond No Time to Die released
Matchday - official trailer3:13 Matchday - official trailer
The Confession Killer - official trailer2:08 The Confession Killer - official trailer
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Shelved: a selection of books by Irish women writers. Might some of these names figure in the final 12?
Women writers Putting Irish women writers back in the picture
 

Galleries

Photograph: Tom Honan/The Irish Times In pictures: Hozier live in Dublin - The best photos from a blistering show
Photograph: Crispin Rodwell/The Irish Times Rod Stewart live in Dublin: in pictures
Vote 100 Celebrating a century since Irish women won the right to vote
 
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