Will & Testament

Mention great British parliamentarians and Tony Benn will probably be near the top of any list. A peer who famously renounced his title to remain a Labour MP, he was controversial, forthright, the doughtiest of debaters and, according to the tabloids, "the most dangerous man in Britain". Skip Kite's elegiac film is elegantly narrated and presented by Benn (shortly before his death in 2014) and takes the form of a scrapbook of his life rather than the usual talking-heads documentary or career hagiography. Set in an enormous "room" decked out with the bric-a-brac of an eventful political life - tabloid front pages, trade union banners, shelves of diaries - it allows the erudite elder statesman to chart his times, from the Second World War and subsequent Attlee government through to ministerial office under Harold Wilson (who made him Postmaster General and Minister of Technology), to backbench exile following internecine battles within the Labour Party in the 80s and 90s. It's genuinely inspiring to hear Benn espouse the right of people to live in a fair and just society, but there are tender moments, too, as he reflects on the death of his brother and the passing of his wife. Highly personal and poignant, it's a fabulous tribute to a formidable political personality.