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Miriam Balanescu

Miriam Balanescu

Independent

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The 'female Hamlet' who created shockwaves

An unhappy bride plotting others' downfalls, the 19th-Century anti-heroine is one of the greatest roles for women ever written – and as new film...

26.10.2025 9

BBC

Miriam Balanescu

The reason art heists exploded in the 1970s

Acclaimed new film The Mastermind, starring Josh O'Connor, tells the story of an art robbery gone wrong. It's inspired by a wave of similar thefts...

18.10.2025 10

BBC

Miriam Balanescu

The banned French thriller now being reappraised

Back in 2000, a French film was vilified for its tale of two women embarking on a drug-fuelled killing spree. But 25 years on, it's considered...

09.07.2025 9

BBC

Miriam Balanescu

The 1958 Italian novel that skewered the super-rich

Lampedusa's mid-20th-Century novel The Leopard became a bestseller, then a revered film – and is now a lavish Netflix series. Its withering takedown...

06.03.2025 9

BBC

Miriam Balanescu