“... at the beginning that Wilder has ‘the gift of knowing what the truth looks like’, and that he may have this from being a journalist, you know that nothing too demanding is going to happen. This is the territory of received ideas backed up by false premises. But then there are real benefits to this approach. The slacker the question, the better Wilder’s ...”

“... implores the huntsman to visit her; but while he scorns any renewal of whatever relationship they may have had, he turns back to press a rouble in her hand before vanishing into the landscape. The brief work is rich in both social commentary and human feeling, and one can well understand Grigorovich’s plea. ‘Your letter,’ Chekhov replied, ‘beloved ...”

“... into a policeman was a coming of age, though not necessarily a step in the right direction. Vidocq may not, as his admirers claim, have invented fingerprinting and the science of ballistics, but he did show the importance of keeping detailed criminal records. He proved, on occasion, that reason could be applied to problems previously left to chance and ...”

“... her services for odd jobs. At the word ‘services’ a viewer familiar with von Trier’s world may see the direction the story is likely to take. Oblivious of her future degradation, Grace – who has ‘never worked a day in her life’ – follows Tom’s instructions: she collects tasteless figurines from the local shop; she tends the gooseberry bushes ...”

“... had that palpable illusion help them make it through the night.’ He even suggests that ‘you may know the curve of her bottom as well as you know your child’s brow’ – and no doubt he does. Before writing Thomson off as a creep, it pays to watch a few Kidman films back to back. Her bottom does feature to a significant degree. We see a good deal of ...”

“... in itself.’ Perhaps, but it wouldn’t have led to charges of exposure. Psychoanalysis itself may or may not have been on trial: one would do better to ask whether Jones was not so much the victim of a misunderstood science as hiding behind it. The scandal, as Maddox shows, was the making of Jones. It pushed him to the ...”

“... security makes up 16 to 22 per cent of the overall outlay on big reconstruction projects, but this may be an underestimate. The GAO has observed that the State Department’s reports to Congress ‘do not identify the magnitude or impact of the costs associated with security providers on reconstruction efforts or available funding’. When asked why ...”

“... the removal of Arafat promises only to accelerate Palestinian political fragmentation, which may well increase, rather than diminish, terrorist attacks on Israel. In a ghastly way, however, that would suit Sharon, giving him the opportunity both to intensify the military occupation and to preserve the settlements as inviolate sanctuaries for innocent ...”

“... I marvel that Ford’s heady obscurantism has such defenders. But to take Ford properly to task may be to begin to be dissatisfied with cinema. Adherence to legend at the expense of facts will ruin America – the work is well under way. And lovers of the movies should consider how far film has helped the undermining. Ford is not the only culprit: Clint ...”

“... less exciting than the story of its manuscript being smuggled out of Albania, takes place on 1 May, sometime in the early 1980s. The narrator is a television journalist, who has for some reason been invited to sit among the Party faithful in one of the grandstands to watch the May Day Parade. As he walks through the ...”

“... everything revolves around their particular whims and inclinations, and by stamping on rivals who may be getting above themselves. Margaret Thatcher was such a prime minister, but so too was Edward Heath, perhaps to an even greater extent (Heath’s cabinet was composed almost entirely of admirers and minions), which goes to show that dominance does not ...”

“... But bones can’t speak for themselves and tell us who has done them violence. And those who know may have reason to lie. At trials for crimes against humanity, some of the most eloquent testimony comes not from survivors but from skeletons: a bullet hole, or the marks left by a sharp weapon, may be all it takes for ...”

“... quickly on Sark. Over time, the Barclays greatly reduced their entrepreneurial activity. In May 2013, Delaney threatened that his company would sack more workers unless the Sark government set up a customs post that would bring tourists direct from France, rather than via the other Channel Islands. Just before the 2014 elections, he announced ...”

“... likely to be paroled into the US and allowed to make your case for asylum, although the hearing may be some years away. Crossing without an appointment, by wading or swimming across the Rio Grande and turning yourself in to Border Patrol, makes asylum almost impossible. It is also to risk immediate removal and a five-year ban on crossing ...”

“... in Europe by the Middle Ages. ‘Grimoire’ is French for ‘grammary’, a book of grammar: it may have been adopted because the manuscripts were often in Latin; perhaps it was a term used more generally of abstruse, esoteric texts. Certainly, grimoires had been around for many hundreds of years before they were known as such. There are grimoires among the ...”