FILMS OF THE WEEK

THE BIG MOVIE

Spotlight (2015) 15 Saturday, 9pm, BBC2 This powerful Oscar-winning drama tells the story behind one of the most shocking headlines of recent years. The film follows a team of dogged investigative journalists at The Boston Globe, who, in 2002, broke a child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Their investigation – hard graft at a steady, purposeful pace, in bland offices full of mountains of paper

– is neither glamorous nor thrilling in the conventional cinematic sense, yet their work – the attention to detail, the insight, the moral stamina – makes for compelling viewing. Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo (above) play the core reporting team, whose triumph is shared with the abuse survivors, who are finally given a voice after decades of being silenced.

CLASSIC FILM CHOICE

Shockproof (1949) PG Friday, 11am, Film4 The film that put together master of melodrama Douglas Sirk and Sam Fuller, known for his violent westerns and war films. The two men shared an interest in taboo-breaking, but even if the end result is not as successful or subversive as either man would have liked (Fuller’s edgy original script was watered down by the studio), it is still an intriguing mix of melodrama and film noir. Patricia Knight stars as excon Jenny Marsh, who took the fall for her slippery gambler ex, Harry Wesson. After meeting with her parole officer, Griff Marat (Cornel Wilde, above, with Knight), Jenny learns that she must stay away from Harry or go back to jail. The film sets up a love triangle between these characters, with Griff breaking the rules by falling in love with Jenny, and Harry refusing to let her go. As the film progress, the lines blur for all three of them…