MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
Latest editorial
Online watch: Money Heist
Printing money takes on a whole new meaning in Nextflix's surprise smash-hit
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
IN ITS run on Spanish TV, Netflix’s Money Heist was more appropriately titled La Casa de Papel — “House of Paper” — which brings to mind Marx’s characterisation of capitalism as a house of cards.
The first season, to the surprise even of Netflix, was the top ratings hit on the service for a show whose language is not English. The series was the most popular last year in Western Europe and one of the most popular globally.
Why the phenomenal success? The answer lies in the major change Money Heist makes to a long and honourable genre, in which thieves often operate in enclaves of marginalised or working-class bands formed to steal money from an impregnable fortress — think The Asphalt Jungle, Rififi, or The Lavender Hill Mob.
More from this author
DENNIS BROE points out that Apple is part of the corporate and state surveillance network which the new series Prime Target rails against
DENNIS BROE appreciates the work of TV writer Steven Knight, and his systematic exposure of the debilitating effects of British capitalism
DENNIS BROE picks his highlights
In sordid tactics that ended up backfiring, Kamala Harris’s ‘nomination’ was the least democratic in history, while the party actively suppressed dissident voices online and its lawyers suppressed third-party candidates from the ballot box, says DENNIS BROE
