The Face of Britain by Simon Schama

Simon Schama explores the eternal power of portraiture. Before we can walk, before we can talk, we become readers of faces, and throughout our lives face reading helps us to navigate the world. This primal engagement with the face makes portraiture one of the most compelling forms of art. Beginning with an exploration of how a portrait that was commissioned to celebrate Winston Churchill’s 80th birthday ended in disaster for both artist and sitter, Schama discovers how portraits can involve a battle for control.

Simon Schama looks at the rogue strain of British portraiture, made up of artists who have plunged into the crowd and given us the faces of the people. While most portraits have been of the great and the good who pay to be flattered, this film looks at artists who have taken all of humanity as their subject.

Simon Schama looks at portraits of the famous, and investigates what the celebrated faces of Britain's past and present tell us about our national character.

Simon Schama explores how love portraits allow us to fulfil our craving to keep the ones we love close to us. By fixing their faces in time, we can defy separation, distance, time, even death.

Simon Schama explores the complex motivations behind some of our most intriguing self-portraits, looking at what they say both about the creative minds of the artists who produced them and about the human condition.