There's no question thathe's asking people to contemplate, you know, the savagery and...
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There's no question that
he's asking people to contemplate, you know, the savagery and the
cruelty of which Britain had been capable in the past
and was still capable. But it's, above all, a nihilistic
painting, a desolate painting. John Ruskin, Turner's great
Victorian champion, originally saw him as
celebrating God's nature. But in this painting... ..if there's a God in this nature,
it's an evil God, a cruel God, because the natural world itself
doesn't seem to be protesting at the human evil. It seems to be part of
the same evil. In the end, there's only
one test that matters. You come into the room,
you fix it in your sights. Does it, or does it not
attack you in the guts? It does
he's asking people to contemplate, you know, the savagery and the
cruelty of which Britain had been capable in the past
and was still capable. But it's, above all, a nihilistic
painting, a desolate painting. John Ruskin, Turner's great
Victorian champion, originally saw him as
celebrating God's nature. But in this painting... ..if there's a God in this nature,
it's an evil God, a cruel God, because the natural world itself
doesn't seem to be protesting at the human evil. It seems to be part of
the same evil. In the end, there's only
one test that matters. You come into the room,
you fix it in your sights. Does it, or does it not
attack you in the guts? It does
Full Transcript
00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:06.036
There's no question that
he's asking people to contemplate,
00:00:06.036 --> 00:00:11.064
you know, the savagery and the
cruelty of which Britain
00:00:11.064 --> 00:00:16.998
had been capable in the past
and was still capable.
00:00:16.998 --> 00:00:20.048
But it's, above all, a nihilistic
painting, a desolate painting.
00:00:20.048 --> 00:00:25.004
John Ruskin, Turner's great
Victorian champion,
00:00:25.004 --> 00:00:28.006
originally saw him as
celebrating God's nature.
00:00:30.016 --> 00:00:32.032
But in this painting...
00:00:32.032 --> 00:00:36.036
..if there's a God in this nature,
it's an evil God, a cruel God,
00:00:36.036 --> 00:00:41.028
because the natural world itself
doesn't seem to be protesting
00:00:41.028 --> 00:00:43.052
at the human evil.
00:00:43.052 --> 00:00:45.068
It seems to be part of
the same evil.
00:00:48.024 --> 00:00:51.084
In the end, there's only
one test that matters.
00:00:51.084 --> 00:00:55.999
You come into the room,
you fix it in your sights.
00:00:55.999 --> 00:00:59.012
Does it, or does it not
attack you in the guts?
00:00:59.012 --> 00:01:00.048
It does.
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Movie Summary
Four young British art historians delve into six decades of the BBC archives to discover the powerful way in which television influences our understanding of the world's greatest artists.
