SATURDAY APRIL 22
THE GHOST OF RICHARD HARRIS
A hellraiser’s life
Screening: Sky Arts, 8.30pm
Who was the famously hellraising Irish actor, really? Richard Harris’s three sons – Bafta award-winning actor Jared Harris (), actor Jamie Harris (, ), and director Damian Harris (, ) – never got to find out. And, as this biographical documentary makes clear, they still aren’t really sure. That uncertainty seems to have been shared by director Adrian Sibley, whose background is in made-for-TV music biographies. When the’s Peter Bradshaw professed discomfort with its “lenient” approach to Harris’s boozing and drug-taking, and its impact on those around him. Six weeks later, Bradshaw reviewed this recut version which, he said, “gives a much fuller account of Harris’s ferocious consumption of cocaine” and takes a less sentimental view of a man who could be both a genius and a thug – and gave the film an extra star in his rating. Russell Crowe, Stephen Rea and Vanessa Redgrave are among those who appear to share their memories of the man and his ways. Other critics have noted the film simply ignores the less exalted parts of Harris’s filmography – he acted in , but also in – but all praised its depth and richness of anecdote.
