Adam Curtis Goes Quiet

Is there anything left to say about Adam Curtis? Over the course of more than 25 BBC documentaries, depending on how you count — each an attempt to trace the workings of what he repeatedly, enigmatically calls “power” across the twentieth century to the wreckage of the present — the director has developed a sensibility so idiosyncratic that it simultaneously begs for and preempts parody. Along the way, he has inspired a small cottage industry of spoofs, none of which manages to be more effective at pastiche than an actual Curtis film, as well as a surprisingly high volume of magazine pieces, many of which simply list his tics: authoritative voice-over narration, reverb-soaked soundtracks, audiovisual collages prominently featuring images of historical disasters.