38 h. ago Woman and Child review – drama of rage and pain in the Iranian marriage market

Cannes film festivalSaeed Roustaee’s new film takes aim at a slippery, entitled male who thinks he can lord it over a widow he plans to marryA strange, sad, sombre movie from Iranian director Saeed Roustaee whose last entry at Cannes was the family drama Leila’s Brothers in 2022. This is a story about the randomness of life in the big city, a melodramatic convulsion of grief, rage and pain which has a TV soap feel to its succession of escalating crises. Like Leila’s Brothers, it is about the entitlement of Iran’s menfolk, and how a man – however shiftless, casual and low-status – can somehow pull rank on a woman in the marriage market.Payman Maadi (from Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation) plays Hamid, an ambulance driver in his late 40s with a certain roguish ladies-man charm whose unmarried status raises eyebrows among some of his acquaintances, but who is now engaged to Mahnaz (Parinaz Izadyar). She is a smart, hardworking hospital nurse who is widowed and lives with her sister Mehri (...

Events

47 h. ago Pete Townshend remakes Quadrophenia for a new generation: ‘The world is a dangerous place at the moment’

It may be set 60 years ago, but a new ballet version of The Who’s rock opera asks questions about youth, society and masculinity that still resonate – and it brought its original creator to tearsDeckchairs fly, arms clash, bodies launch into the air as mods and rockers engage in a fierce Brighton seafront battle. But in this east London dance studio – with Zaha Hadid’s Olympic swimming pool visible through the window – young performers in sports socks, joggers and baggy T-shirts are reimagining the Who’s seminal document of the mid-60s Quadrophenia as ballet.Isn’t this 1973 album an unlikely subject for dance? We’ve recently had Black Sabbath: The Ballet, and Message in a Bottle set to Sting, so why not? After all, Quadrophenia is theatrical at its roots. “The closest thing to a grand opera I’ll ever write,” says the Who’s guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend. Set in 1965, the story of disaffected young mod Jimmy looking for meaning in life via music, amphetamines ...

Politics

68 h. ago Princess of Wales has an emotional reunion with Holocaust survivor as they share a sweet moment at Buckingham Palace garden party

The Princess of Wales shared a warm embrace with a Holocaust survivor and his granddaughters as they reunited at a Buckingham Palace garden party on Tuesday.

Politics

3 d. ago Eleanor the Great review – June Squibb takes on Holocaust survivor trauma in Scarlett Johansson’s iffy directing debut

The 95-year-old actor gives an enjoyably twinkly performance in a film that misjudges how seriously its story should be takenScarlett Johansson’s directorial feature debut, from a screenplay by Tory Kamen, is honestly intentioned and sweetly acted – notably by the film’s 95-year-old star June Squibb, whose remarkable career renaissance began with her being nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for Alexander Payne’s 2013 film Nebraska. But this frankly odd film is misjudged and naive about the implications of its Holocaust theme. Its bland, TV-movie tone of sentimentality fails to accommodate the existential nightmare of the main plot strand, or indeed the subordinate question of when and whether to put your elderly parent in a care home.Squibb plays Eleanor Morgenstein, a widowed Jewish lady with a waspish way of speaking her mind to condescending youngsters, including the blandly unhelpful teen working in a supermarket who presumes to tell Eleanor that all pickles taste pre...

Events

5 d. ago Jesy Nelson gives birth to ‘fighting strong’ twins after rare pregnancy complications

Former Little Mix singer previously underwent surgery to save her unborn children

Politics

5 d. ago This is how we do it: ‘I didn’t want to issue an ultimatum – but sex is non

Iris likes to have sex often, but Eva found that the pressures of work had put her off. Now, they’re both in a good place and having more and better sexHow do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymouslyThings came to a point when I was considering whether I wanted our relationship to continue if it was sexless Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Blind date: ‘I was hoping to meet the love of my life – or to get a good story out of it’

William, 24, a business development manager, meets Lucy, 25, a doctorWhat were you hoping for? An evening with someone fun, full of character and full of conversations. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Netflix fans have just days to watch 'inspirational' film with huge star

The powerful biographical drama, Harriet, tells the story of real-life hero, Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery and went on to free hundreds of enslaved people during the civil war

Politics

1 week ago ‘I marvel I have any brain cells left’: drummer Patrick Dougher on drugs, drink and blowing his big break with Sade

Dougher spent 20 years drinking, smoking and sniffing anything he could get hold of. At his lowest, he spent a month sleeping on a park bench. How did he bounce back – and forge a new career as an artist?All stories of addiction are grim and harrowing, but Patrick Dougher’s memoir reads like a picaresque comedy at times – albeit one laced with trauma and tragedy. There are hilarious tales of eccentric characters, like the great-aunt with enormous buttocks who killed his kitten by sitting on it: “That booty made all the decisions, and Aunt Cat, she just followed obediently.” And there are almost unbelievable episodes from Dougher’s life: his near-death experience in a crashing elevator, playing drums in Sade’s band, being stalked by a serial killer, finding a kilo of cocaine hidden inside a stolen table football machine. It almost sounds fun. And yet Dougher’s life is also a story of emotional damage, homelessness, self-destruction, loss and regret.“The life of an addict, or at least...

Events

1 week ago ‘I marvel I have any brain cells left’: artist Patrick Dougher on drugs, drink and blowing his big break with Sade

Dougher spent 20 years drinking, smoking and sniffing anything he could get hold of. At his lowest, he spent a month sleeping on a park bench. How did he bounce back?All stories of addiction are grim and harrowing, but Patrick Dougher’s memoir reads like a picaresque comedy at times – albeit one laced with trauma and tragedy. There are hilarious tales of eccentric characters, like the great-aunt with enormous buttocks who killed his kitten by sitting on it: “That booty made all the decisions, and Aunt Cat, she just followed obediently.” And there are almost unbelievable episodes from Dougher’s life: his near-death experience in a crashing elevator, playing drums in Sade’s band, being stalked by a serial killer, finding a kilo of cocaine hidden inside a stolen table football machine. It almost sounds fun. And yet Dougher’s life is also a story of emotional damage, homelessness, self-destruction, loss and regret.“The life of an addict, or at least my life, it is the full spectrum, it’...

Events

1 week ago Le Film de Mon Père review – father’s videotape legacy sparks intergenerational dialogue

A Swiss film-maker’s parent leaves behind a visual diary that raises questions about the limitations of art in a fascinating documentary debutThe genesis of Jules Guarneri’s documentary – his first – comes from an unusual gift. Having made more than 20 hours of a filmed diary, his father, Jean, entrusted the material to the budding director, hoping that it would form the building blocks for his son’s first feature. These visual journals, in which the older man addresses the camera – and ultimately Guarneri – with recollections from his past, are awash with nostalgia and regret. As Jean’s recordings are interspersed with Guarneri’s own footage of his family, what starts out as a monologue gradually transforms into an intergenerational dialogue between father and son.Filmed with a fixed camera, Jean’s diaries have a static quality that echoes the stagnancy of his life story. Christabel, his wife and Guarneri’s mother, was an heiress, and the couple lived as idle rich in the Swiss vill...

Culture

1 week ago The ultimate spiritual pilgrimage for our times? A trip to a waste management site | Eleanor Margolis

As I stood there, awed by how disgusting and wasteful our species is, I realised that everyone needs to see thisLike all the best things in life, this story starts with an argument about bins. Admittedly, I could do better at recycling. I can try to chalk this up to having read too much about how all our plastic waste ultimately ends up in landfill sites in the poorest parts of south-east Asia. But I’m also lazy and so well-acquainted with cognitive dissonance that I could probably cry over the death scene in Bambi while comforting myself by chowing down on a giant haunch of venison.My partner, Leo, is the total opposite: diligent and principled. Which is why she finally lost it with me for failing to put a plastic yoghurt tub in the recycling. I went on the defensive, citing half-imagined reports about megadumps in the Philippines and inescapable doom. She retaliated by booking us on an educational tour of Southwark Reuse and Recycling Centre.Eleanor Margolis is a columnist for the...

Politics

1 week ago This is how we do it: ‘Writing erotic stories for each other has given us a new sexual energy’

Maeve and Otto’s sex life took a real dip, but revealing what they like – and writing it down – has reawakened their passionHow do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymouslyFor the first time, we openly talked about what we liked and didn’t like, which really opened up our relationship for exploration Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago German Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer dies at age 103

Margot Friedländer, a German Jew who survived the Theresienstadt concentration camp and became a high-profile witness to Nazi persecution in her final years, has died in Berlin

Events

2 w. ago 'Must see' Netflix disaster movie based on harrowing real events

This overlooked film has an A-list cast that re-tells the 'heart-breaking' real-life story

Events

2 w. ago What was the one thing that SCARED Queen Elizabeth II? New Mail podcast series launches delving into the history of Royal security threats and assassination attempts

The late Queen was known for her stiff upper lip and unshrinking attitude towards threats against her life. Listen to the full story wherever you get your podcasts now.

Events

2 w. ago The Illegals by Shaun Walker review – gripping true stories of spies who lived deep undercover

An eye-opening account of the old Soviet tactic of embedding secret agents where you’d least expect themOne of the best series of the golden age of TV drama, The Americans (2013-2018), centred on a pair of Russian sleeper agents operating in suburban Washington DC during the height of the cold war. By day they seemed to be a boring married American couple; by night they set honey traps, sabotaged facilities, recruited traitors and assassinated enemies.That story was based in part on the real-life pair of “illegals” – as spies living under deep cover in civil society are called – Elena Vavilova and Andrey Bezrukov, who pretended to be Canadians living in Cambridge, Massachussetts, until their arrest and deportation in 2010. In reality, they weren’t so successful: owing to the turning of another Soviet agent, they were closely monitored by the FBI for years and never managed anything nefarious enough to make it worth charging them with espionage. Con...

Events

2 w. ago Holocaust survivor thanks those who took ‘high risks’ to help Jews during war

Jacques Weisser’s parents were taken to Auschwitz.

Events

2 w. ago Delivery man fighting for life after being stabbed by assailant 'trying to steal his bike'

The man is fighting for his life after the incident in Liverpool. This is a breaking news story and we will update as we know more

Events

2 w. ago Holocaust survivor attends interfaith VE Day celebration at UK’s oldest mosque

John Hajdu, 88, said it was ‘absolutely vital’ that future generations remember the Holocaust as he attended the interfaith VE Day gathering.

Events