The Ministry of Film

Robin and Carolina go back in time to the 1960s via the 1980s to discover adulthood all over again with Marwood and Withnail. The film is 'Withnail & I' (1987), directed by Bruce Robinson, and maybe the truest expression of a cult classic. Politics include: the existential crises of two men trying to figure out how to make a living; art as the toughest endeavour there is; the concern most young men have with maybe being gay, or worse, being perceived as being gay; and the sheer passage of...

Carolina and Robin go down under to discuss the feminist classic that is Jane Campion's The Piano (1993). Politics include: life in the 1800s being pretty sucky for women, the unbearable weight of English cricket club politics being transferred to a small village in New Zealand, the on-the-ground horrors of colonialism, and how falling in love with Harvey Keitel may be harder than it seems. Plus the most haunting music you've ever heard played on an empty beach. If you like what y...

Robin and Carolina take a detour from the usual schedule to talk about THE blockbuster of the summer, Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. Politics include: 3,000 of theorising about Odysseus' motives, the MAGA right-wing press going bonkers at the film, and the small matter of the politics of the Olympus getting in the way of our hero getting back to Ithaca. Plus that Trojan horse. If you want to keep engaging with the Cyclops-style amount of commentary about the film and the epic poem, he...

Carolina and Robin come back for part two of their deep dive into the heart of darkness of New York City, a young angry man, and rampant capitalism. Politics include: Bobby de Niro raging his own Vietnam War on the streets of New York during the grossest-looking bin strike; young prostitute Iris creeping the heck out of viewers; the slimy US politics of the mid 1970s, which have not changed all that much; and a load of over-glamourised military paraphernalia. Plus Carolina's rant about making...

Robin and Carolina stay in the depths of New York City, this time looking at all-time loser incel Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese's seminal Taxi Driver. There was so much to say that, for the first time, the episode will be split into two parts. Politics include: Bobby de Niro raging his own Vietnam War on the streets of New York during the grossest-looking bin strike; young prostitute Iris creeping the heck out of viewers; the slimy US politics of the mid 1970s, which have not changed all t...