One Pair of Eyes — Season 1, Episode 17: Gerald Scarfe: I Think I See Violence All Around Me

Episode synopsis

The sheer ferocity of a Scarfe cartoon, stripping his subjects of any human dignity and reducing them to a kind of sub-animal level, provokes a violent reaction in many people. "I expected to find myself working with a suppurating sore," said one of the animators on this film, "but he's not like that at all..." Even his victims, when they meet the artist face to face, are often surprised to find themselves in the presence of such a mild, gentle sort of person. In this disturbing, at times horrifying film, Gerald Scarfe may not solve the riddle of his own conflicting nature but he certainly casts a blinding light on it.

About One Pair of Eyes

A monthly series of highly personal documentary films in which individuals are given a platform to discuss issues close to their heart.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1James Cameron: Temporary Person Passing Through
• E2Dr Alex Comfort: A Traveller in the Dreamtime
• E3Anthony Howard: A City of Magnificent Intentions
• E4Nicholas Tomalin: No Worse Heresy
• E5James Cameron: The Road to Kingdom Come
• E6Jo Grimond: The Dead Hand of Democracy
• E7Peter Wilson: You've Got to Win
• E8Norman Parkinson: Stay Baby Stay
• E9Sir Tyrone Guthrie: Off to Philadelphia
• E10James Cameron: Berlin - The Haunted House
• E11Margaret Drabble: A Place Called Exile
• E12Claud Cockburn: One More River To Cross