the power of art

i watched this episode of Simon Schama's Power of Art last night and was frankly dumbstuck by it. his programs on art are always interesting to view; full of interesting ideas on the artists they present. this time for some reason i felt it transcend something. schama is more in the background of this episode, letting the subject - vincent van gogh - speak for himself. and speak he does in the acting of andy serkis (gollum in the lord of the rings trilogy). from what i read, serkis did this project shortly after LOTR. i think his acting is compelling and i learned a great deal i did not know about van gogh. so i am embedding the 6 parts on youtube and i urge you to watch it, and i'd love to hear your comments/thoughts once you do.