Manifesto

Cate Blanchett gives a tour-de-force performance in this kaleidoscopic trip through the art manifestos of the 20th century.

Cate Blanchett is in full-on chameleon mode, playing 13 different characters in this energetic tribute to artistic troublemakers. In this thrilling history of 20th-century ideas, Blanchett narrates the tenets of movements including modernism, futurism, communism and Dogme 95. As each manifesto seeks to rip up what has come before, so each scene here builds on and destroys the preceding philosophies, employing different techniques of delivery to explore ideas about aesthetics, technology and politics. That each separate world feels so fully realised is down to the meticulous mise-en-scène of artist-director Julian Rosefeldt, who expands on his original multi-screen installation to create a kaleidoscopic feature film for creative spirits that will provoke and inspire.