Jonathan Meades

Acting

Jonathan Meades

Born January 21, 1947 · Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, UK (age 79)

Jonathan Turner Meades is an English writer and film-maker, primarily on the subjects of place, culture, architecture and food. His work spans journalism, fiction, essays, memoir and over fifty highly idiosyncratic television films, and has been described as "brainy, scabrous, mischievous", "iconoclastic" and possessed of "a polymathic breadth of knowledge and truly caustic wit".

Known For

Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador DaliSurrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali · 2002
Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali
★ 5.82002
MovieHistoryTV Movie
A comic drama about the weird and wonderful world of Salvador Dali and the Surrealists. This film charts Dali's meteoric rise from obscurity to the world's most publicised artist.
L'AtlantideL'Atlantide · 1992
L'Atlantide
★ 6.71992
MovieDramaAdventure
A mythical land who must be discover. Or invented. In an impressive library, two old men. One is a great Polish archaeologist at the end of his work. The second- his best friend. They are masters of a substantial slice of human history: legendary Atlantis. It is refuge and masterpiece, propriety and treasure.
Jerry Building: Unholy Relics of Nazi GermanyJerry Building: Unholy Relics of Nazi Germany · 1994
Jerry Building: Unholy Relics of Nazi Germany
★ 7.01994
MovieHistoryDocumentary
Jonathan Meades explores the architecture of Nazi Germany, from its holiday camps to its concentration camps.
Franco Building with Jonathan MeadesFranco Building with Jonathan Meades · 2019
Franco Building with Jonathan Meades
2019
MovieDocumentary
Writer and broadcaster Jonathan Meades turns his gaze onto Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.
Ben Building: Mussolini, Monuments and ModernismBen Building: Mussolini, Monuments and Modernism · 2016
Ben Building: Mussolini, Monuments and Modernism
★ 6.52016
MovieDocumentary
Having previously investigated the architecture of Hitler and Stalin's regimes, Jonathan Meades turns his attention to another notorious 20th-century European dictator, Mussolini. His travels take him to Rome, Milan, Genoa, the new town of Sabaudia and the vast military memorials of Redipuglia and Monte Grappa. When it comes to the buildings of the fascist era, Meades discovers a dictator who couldn't dictate, with Mussolini caught between the contending forces of modernism and a revivalism that harked back to ancient Rome. The result was a variety of styles that still influence architecture today. Along the way, Meades ponders on the nature of fascism, the influence of the Futurists, and Mussolini's love of a fancy uniform.
Joe Building: The Stalin Memorial LectureJoe Building: The Stalin Memorial Lecture · 2006
Joe Building: The Stalin Memorial Lecture
2006
MovieHistoryDocumentary
Jonathan Meades examines the cult of Stalinism through its buildings and monuments.
Bunkers Brutalism and BloodymindednessBunkers Brutalism and Bloodymindedness · 2014
Bunkers Brutalism and Bloodymindedness
2014
SeriesDocumentary
Two-part documentary in which Jonathan Meades makes the case for 20th-century concrete Brutalist architecture in an homage to a style that he sees a brave, bold and bloodyminded. Tracing its precursors to the once-hated Victorian edifices described as Modern Gothic and before that to the unapologetic baroque visions created by John Vanbrugh, as well as the martial architecture of World War II, Meades celebrates the emergence of the Brutalist spirit in his usual provocative and incisive style. Never pulling his punches, Meades praises a moment in architecture he considers sublime and decries its detractors.
Jonathan Meades on JargonJonathan Meades on Jargon · 2018
Jonathan Meades on Jargon
★ 10.02018
SeriesDocumentary
In this provocative television essay, writer and broadcaster Jonathan Meades turns his forensic gaze on that modern phenomenon that drives us all up the wall - jargon. In a wide-ranging programme he dissects politics, the law, football commentary, business, the arts, tabloid-speak and management consultancy to show how jargon is used to cover up, confuse and generally keep us in the dark. He contrasts this with the world of slang, which unlike jargon actually gets to the heart of whatever it's talking about even if it does offend along the way. With plenty of what is called 'strong language', Meades pulls no punches in slaying the dragon of jargon.

Filmography

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Ben Building: Mussolini, Monuments and ModernismBen Building: Mussolini, Monuments and Modernism · 2016
Ben Building: Mussolini, Monuments and Modernism
★ 6.52016
MovieDocumentary
Having previously investigated the architecture of Hitler and Stalin's regimes, Jonathan Meades turns his attention to another notorious 20th-century European dictator, Mussolini. His travels take him to Rome, Milan, Genoa, the new town of Sabaudia and the vast military memorials of Redipuglia and Monte Grappa. When it comes to the buildings of the fascist era, Meades discovers a dictator who couldn't dictate, with Mussolini caught between the contending forces of modernism and a revivalism that harked back to ancient Rome. The result was a variety of styles that still influence architecture today. Along the way, Meades ponders on the nature of fascism, the influence of the Futurists, and Mussolini's love of a fancy uniform.

Writer