Review of Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012) by Stacy C — 02 Sep 2012

At times political, personal, funny and frustrating this film both reveals and conceals the work and personality of Ai Weiwei. He comes across as a weird hybrid of both Damien Hirst and Mark Thomas (which is not a criticism) and the film-makers have both great access and a good eye for presenting the complexities of the work and the politics.

But, as ever, it's the people's response to him... and the revealing take of his mother that help get to the heart of why he is important in China. Seeing this on the same night as meeting about the UK Border Agency's treatment of students from outside the EU seemed apposite.