For the most part, the movie is really a black comedy about Los Angeles-style self-obsession spiced with sudden drug interludes that jar you for a minute, then fade from memory as we head on to the next (occasionally facile) showbiz send-up.

CNN: Review: Too much junkie business in 'Permanent Midnight'

On the other, education exacerbated his self-consciousness about class, not least his self-confessed obsession with his own cultural proficiency compared to that of his peers, many of whom were solidly middle class.

UNESCO: The Uses of Richard Hoggart

His balancing act is delicate: Britain may find his integrationism hard to bear, France may resent his liberalising instinct and even Mr Monti's authority may not divert Germany from its self-defeating obsession with austerity.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne

Going with the flow causes our obsession with self to recede and allows genuine creativity to emerge.

FORBES: Nowtime Four