Tony Benn: Will and Testament

“Life is like a pebble dropped in a pool.” So muses Tony Benn near the start of this heartfelt look back on his life. If this is true, the late MP was more like a boulder. Skip Kite’s film shows, through interviews with Benn and archive clips from his career, how he made his political splash in the 60s as part of Harold Wilson’s Labour government, and how he continued to make waves long after he was pushed to the party's fringes.

As great company as the man himself is, this hymn to Benn is ultimately disappointing. Despite seemingly unlimited access to this passionate firebrand, Kite fails to get under his skin. Part of the problem is the film’s strange framing structure. Continually we come back to a black box stage where Benn is shown pottering among the flotsam and jetsam of his life – above him, his most damning newspaper headlines float ominously, like Damocles waiting for a nasty paper cut. It’s an abstract, chilly device that doesn’t sit well with the straight talking, warm subject. [Jamie Dunn]