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Seamus Heaney and the Music of What Happens review – this stirring tribute is poetry in motion

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With insight from those closest to him, this moving film celebrates the great poet’s life and extraordinary works

I thought about Seamus Heaney and the Music of What Happens (BBC Two) long after the credits had passed, and not just because it is a gorgeous, almost luxurious documentary about one of the all-time greats. While it stands as an excellent tribute to the man and his work, it acts, too, as a history of the second half of the 20th century, laying out the Troubles through anecdote and verse. Given the current political climate, it is an apt time for people to be reminded of what happened in our very recent past, and what that was like for the people living through it.

That lovely title is from Song. In archive footage – and there are a lot of great interviews plundered here – Heaney recalls taking it from the answer Fionn MacCool gave when asked about the best music in the world. “So I used it as the basis for a little declaration about poetry,” he explains casually, as if it were that easy. In these old clips, with his polo necks and coats, his cigarette and Bob Dylan hair, Heaney has the look of a rock star. It is delightful to spend so long in his company.

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