Caravaggio's approach to painting was unconventional. He avoided the standard method of making copies of old sculptures and instead took the more direct approach of painting directly onto canvas without drawing first. He also used people from the street as his models. His dramatic painting was enhanced with intense and theatrical lighting.
Caravaggio's fate was sealed when he killed a man in a duel in 1606. He fled to Naples where he attempted to paint his way out of trouble, he became a Knight, but was then imprisoned in Malta and then finally moved to Sicily. He was pardoned for murder in 1610, but died of a fever when attempting to return to Rome. For me the power of Caravaggio's art is the power of truth, not least the truth about ourselves. If we are ever to hope for redemption we have to start from the recognition that the Goliath competes with the David in all of us."
Follow the life and career of Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who currently plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and the Portugal national team, through a series of interviews with Ronaldo himself as well as friends and family. Directed by Anthony Wonke and executive-produced by Asif Kapadia, Ronaldo was shot over the course of 14 months with the film-makers gaining access to Ronaldo's private life and inner circle of friends, family and team-mates. The film was shot in Madeira, Lisbon, and Madrid, where he currently resides as a squad member of Real Madrid.
Tony Accardo receives a phone call from Joseph P. Kennedy, asking the mob kingpins to use their pull with the Illinois union vote to help his son, John F. Kennedy, win the upcoming presidential election. In return, he offers to put an end to his son Robert F. Kennedy's investigation into Giancana and the Outfit. As election day nears, Kennedy's fight against Richard Nixon tightens, turning Illinois into a key battleground. Giancana delivers the union votes. After a close race, Kennedy is declared the victor. Just weeks after Kennedy takes office, his brother Robert is named Attorney General. To the Chicago mob's surprise, when Robert takes office as the new U.S. Attorney General in 1961, he makes his top priority going after organized crime ó and one of his primary targets is the Outfit. Weeks after, John F. Kennedy is shot and killed in Dallas. After his brother is assassinated, Robert steps down from his post as Attorney General and the investigation into organized crime is virtually dropped. The government begins an investigation into the assassination, with rumors already circulating that the mafia could have been involved.
A look at the life of Michael Jackson from his early days at Motown Records to the release of his hit 1979 album, Off the Wall. One morning, a television set broke down in a living room in Gary, Indiana, leaving a large family of children with nothing to do, so they started singing. Soon the family was singing at talent shows and winning trophies. Their first four recorded songs would top the charts, and launch the career of one of the greatest entertainers the world has ever known. Journey from Motown to Off the Wall allows audiences to travel with Michael as he gets his start at Motown, strikes a new path with CBS records, and forges a relationship with legendary producer Quincy Jones. An illuminated portrait emerges of how an earnest, passionate, hard-working boy would become the "King of Pop".
After the murder of his brother Frank, Al Capone is out for revenge against William Dever and the Chicago police. He plots to kill every undercover cop that was in Cicero on the day of Frank’s death. Before he can set his plan in motion, however, Johnny Torrio returns from Italy and reclaims his control of their criminal empire. Torrio forbids Capone from killing cops, fearing it would spark an all-out war. Despite Capone’s personal loss, Torrio returns to a booming business that’s raking in $10 million a month. However, as Torrio and Capone’s empire grows, it becomes harder to keep smaller factions under control. After a small group of Italian mobsters attacks one of Dean O’Banion’s distilleries, O’Banion blames Torrio and decides to end their business partnership. He announces his retirement to Torrio and offers Torrio an opportunity to buy him out. Torrio meets O’Banion at the Seine Brewery on May 19, 1924, with the buyout money. Chicago police raid the brewery and arrest Torrio while letting O’Banion walk free: O’Banion had set the whole thing up. With prior convictions, Torrio serves a mandatory prison sentence but is first released on bail. He vows to kill O’Banion as payback and gives Capone his blessing to kill O’Banion. Capone spends months planning the hit. Capone knows that catching O’Banion off guard is nearly impossible, so he places an order with O’Banion’s flower shop for nearly $20,000 worth of flowers, knowing that O’Banion personally oversees his biggest arrangements. On November 10, 1924, O’Banion works in his shop preparing the flower delivery. Two of Capone’s men enter the shop and fatally gun O’Banion down. Four days later, Chicago’s most powerful Irish gangster is laid to rest in one of the most lavish funerals Chicago has ever seen. More than two dozen cars are required to transport floral arrangements as a crowd of 10,000 mourns the death of the infamous gangster. Torrio and Capone attend the funeral, infuriating O’Banion’s top lieutenants, Hymie Weiss and Bugs Moran. Chaos breaks out as smaller gangs through the city begin a turf war. It’s the beginning of an era of bloodshed in Chicago known as the Beer Wars. Over 300 people are murdered at a rate of 75 to 100 murders a year.
