Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure
★ 7.1 · 1999 · 50m · Documentary
Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure is a 1999 BBC television documentary presented by Michael Palin. It records Palin's travels as he visited many sites where Ernest Hemingway had been. The sites include Spain, Chicago, Paris, Italy, Africa, Key West, Cuba, and Idaho. After the trip was over Michael Palin wrote a book about the journey and his experiences. This book contains both Palin's text and many pictures by Basil Pao, the stills photographer who was on the team.
Episodes
1. Festival Of St Fermin50m · The programme starts out with Palin reading a novel of Hemingway and then, after being chased by a fake bull, he ends up in Pamplona, Spain. There he watches the famous bull run and then goes to interview a professional bull fighter. Hemingway loved the bull run, and Palin confides that it must be an age thing- he can't stand to watch it.
Travelling to Africa where Hemingway did his safaris, Palin goes to a local Masaicircumcision where the teenage boys are dressed up in finery. "Which of you is the most beautiful here?" he asked. "We are all beautiful," replies the boy, "except you!" Afterwards, he catches a view of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest point.
2. Hemingway's Birthplace50m · In Chicago, Palin spends a bit of time exploring the city before going to Hemingway's birthplace, Oak Park. After strolling through Hemingway's first home and singing some of his childhood songs , he goes back to Chicago and enters a local shooting range, hoping to be like Hemingway. Mostly, Palin just jumps at the recoil.
Hopping up to Michigan, Palin looks at the area where Hemingway first learns to fish, and attempts to catch a few himself. He finds none and ends up hooking the cameraman's ear. Going to the local grocer, Palin asks for things that might have been on Hemingway's grocery list to see if the modern grocer would still carry it. In the process of asking for canned meat, ("We have Spam," the grocer says,) he ends up singing the Spam song from the famous Monty Python aptly named Spam sketch, and then off he goes to Italy.
In Italy, Palin goes to the area where Hemingway was wounded and supposedly buried a ten pound note in the ground. After a fruitless search, Palin buries his book in the ground. After attempting to drive an Italian ambulance and become a Red Cross nurse, he ends up travelling into France.
Paris, France was "...the city I love most in all the world," according to Hemingway. Now Palin goes through the City of Lights and reenacts perhaps the strangest part of Hemingway's life in 1928- when the writer was reaching for the string for the lavatory, he ended up pulling the skylight string, and the pane of glass crashed on top of his head.
3. Key West50m · In a random twist of events, Palin pops up in the Florida Keys and sees a Hemingway look-alike contest at the local restaurant. He also goes to visit a man who boxed with Hemingway.
Going to Uganda, Palin looks at the site where Hemingway's plane crashed and the newspaper headlines declared that the famous author and his wife were dead. This was not the case, as Palin soon flies over to Venice, Italy, to keep following Hemingway's always moving footsteps.
In Venice, Palin walks in the midst of an ancient festival that had been gone for 200 years and was revived only in 1975. The people wear masks and cloaks, so as Palin decides to get into the spirit, he dresses up as a Gumby from the Monty Python television series. After this, Palin goes to a dinner before the duck hunt begins, and interviews the Italian people at the meal. Putting on a jacket and gloves, Palin and the Barone, his duck-hunting partner, wait for three and a half hours for a duck to come.
4. Hemingway In Cuba50m · After no luck, Palin hops down to Cuba where he finds many Hemingway leads and visits his home and hotel room. Many failed attempts to interview President Castro are made, and Palin, after waiting a few extra days to have an interview, jets off towards the American West.
In the last stretch of Hemingway's life, Palin becomes a temporary cowboy at a dude ranch in Montana and succeeds in roping the camera operator. After rounding a few cows, Palin goes to Ketchum, Idaho to visit Hemingway's grave and professes that "I'm still looking for some sort of approval from him... some sort of nod of acknowledgment from Hemingway." The grave obligingly replies, "Bull-s***."More Like This
Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story
2023 · ★ 7.8
Keanu Reeves tells one of the greatest sagas in Formula 1 history. Through the insights of Ross Brawn and revered racing icons like Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, all is revealed in this gripping four-part series. From the formation of Brawn GP see their remarkable journey through strategic manoeuvres and financial trials during an exceptionally competitive era in the annals of the sport.
More info →
In Vogue: The 90s
2024 · ★ 8.7
The '90s was the decade when high fashion walked off the runway and into mainstream culture. Featuring an A-list cast from the worlds of fashion, film and music, alongside Vogue's Anna Wintour and Edward Enninful, this landmark series reveals the inside story of the 90s' most celebrated fashion and pop culture moments.
More info →
Caught in the Web: The Murders Behind Zona Divas
2024 · ★ 8.5
In Mexico City's dark underbelly, women seeking better lives become entangled in an online escort network, unaware it will lead to a series of femicides.
More info →
God in America
2010 · ★ 6
God in America explores the tumultuous 400-year history of the intersection of religion and public life in America, from the first European settlements to the 2008 presidential election. This series examines how religious dissidents helped shape the American concept of religious liberty and the controversial evolution of that ideal in the nation's courts and political arena; how religious freedom and waves of new immigrants and religious revivals fueled competition in the religious marketplace; how movements for social reform -- from abolition to civil rights -- galvanized men and women to put their faith into political action; and how religious faith influenced conflicts from the American Revolution to the Cold War.
More info →
Nicki Minaj: My Truth
2012 · ★ 6.2
Platinum selling rap artist Nicki Minaj makes headlines wherever she goes, for her music, her unique sense of style, and certainly for her no-holds-barred personality. She is thriving in what was once solely a man's world, and loving every minute of it. But who is Onika Tanya Maraj, the Trinidadian-born American artist with the outrageous personality, and the most Twitter followers of any rapper (14 million and counting)? Nicki Minaj: My Truth is a three-part special of never-before-seen footage of Nicki Minaj in her personal and professional life. The documentary gives the world a glimpse of "The Queen of the Barbz" Nicki Minaj wigs, makeup, personalities, and hit records. We also see Nicki discussing her fear of failure, behind the scenes footage of the filming for "The Boys" video clip and Nicki rehearsing for her first arena tour in the U.K.
More info →
