Cousin Bobby

It's perhaps characteristic of Demme's quirky integrity that he should follow The Silence of the Lambs with a low-key, 16mm documentary about a long-lost relative. Typical, too, that the film, for all its seeming amateurishness, ends up being far more than a home movie. For the Reverend Robert Castle, the cousin Demme hasn't seen for over 30 years, is not only a colourful figure - a politically radical Episcopalian minister battling against the poverty, racism and drugs that blight Harlem - but a welcome reminder that even in Bush's America the Left has just about managed to survive. If the film's loose structure means it occasionally lacks focus, Demme's relaxed, open narrative style allows him to paint a wide-ranging portrait of America.