Hockney

This documentary about British artist David Hockney draws on its subject's own family photos and home movies to provide an intimate, authoritative portrait. From Bradford to London to California and back again, we see the places that have informed Hockney's remarkably varied output, from the British pop art of his youth and celebrated West Coast swimming-pool pictures to the expansive Yorkshire landscapes that have brought the sprightly septuagenarian renewed critical and popular acclaim. There's a lot to pack in, but it never feels like director Randall Wright is rushing, and the interviews with Hockney himself (now seriously hard of hearing), family and colleagues glow with the same kind of warmth also seen in Wright's acclaimed 2012 TV biography of Sister Wendy. Perhaps that means a slight lack of critical perspective, yet the film allows Hockney's work to speak for itself, beautifully capturing its rich colours and playful lines. Undoubtedly a splendid tribute to a genuine national treasure.