Caravaggio (1986)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Derek Jarman

Writers:

Nicholas Ward Jackson (story)
Derek Jarman (writer)

Release Date:

29 August 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History

Plot Keywords:

Drowning | Scene Based On Painting | One Word Title | Homoerotic Fight | Homosexual History

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Noam Almaz	...	Boy Caravaggio
Dawn Archibald	...	Pipo
Sean Bean	...	Ranuccio
Jack Birkett	...	The Pope
Sadie Corre	...	Princess Collona
Una Brandon-Jones	...	Weeping Woman
Imogen Claire	...	Lady with the Jewels
Robbie Coltrane	...	Scipione Borghese
Garry Cooper	...	Davide
Lol Coxhill	...	Old Priest
Nigel Davenport	...	Giustiniani
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Art Lover
Terry Downes	...	Bodyguard
Dexter Fletcher	...	Young Caravaggio
Michael Gough	...	Cardinal Del Monte

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:18 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | UK:18 | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Limehouse Studios, Limehouse, London, England, UK

Company:

British Film Institute (BFI)

Trivia:

Terry Downes was among those the casting ideas for Del Monte

Goofs:

Anachronisms: (At 81:00) When Ranuccio confesses about his crime, there is a truck behind Caravaggio.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Jubilee: A Time Less Golden (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

MISSA LUX ET ORGIO

A typically imaginative and highly idiosyncratic examination of the artist from director Derek Jarman

Quite simply unlike any other biographical film you will ever see, Derek Jarman's acclaimed production of Caravaggio (1986) is a lovingly constructed, highly personal cross-reference of tormented sixteenth century genius, twentieth century iconography and a somewhat satire on the shallowness of the burgeoning eighties' art scene of which Jarman was very much part of. Exploring Caravaggio's life through his work, the film distinctively merges fact, fiction, legend and imagination in a bold and confident approach that will probably leave serious art enthusiasts and casual viewers outraged by the complete disregard for accurate, historical storytelling.

Shot with a typically avant-garde approach, director/writer Jarman doesn't so much fashion a biography of the artist, but rather, creates a personal reflection of the man using intimate characteristics that appeal to his film-making sensibilities. This makes Caravaggio more of an interpretation of the filmmaker than the artist himself; somewhat self-indulgently focusing on Caravaggio's struggle with bisexuality, perfectionism and wanton obsession; perhaps even glossing over the more intricate workings of the character, for instance, his own passion for art and his battles with the various religious and creative constraints of the period.

It's a shame some of these ideas aren't further elaborated upon, because, at its heart, Caravaggio is really an exceptional film. As I commented earlier, it's perhaps unlike any other film you will ever see; an iconoclastic vision with a cinematic imagination that knows no bounds. Caravaggio is a film in which a 16th century setting gives way to the various anachronisms of passing trains, tuxedos, motorbikes, typewriters and chic nightclub settings. It is a film in which every frame is rendered in reference to the artist's work, composed with rich, shadowy colours that bring to mind the contrast between fresh and rotting fruit, and an unrivalled interplay between sound and production design that is reminiscent in its intense savagery of two dogs angrily ripping each other to pieces.

There is no other 'based on fact film' that has demonstrated such a wild and evocative recreation of real-life hysteria and events, with the possible exception of Peter Jackson's masterful Heavenly Creatures (1994) or even some of Jarman's subsequent projects like Edward II (1991) and Wittgenstein (1994). With a cast of now very well known faces, such as Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, Tilda Swinton, Michael Gough, Dexter Fletcher and Robbie Coltrane - not to mention some of the most beautiful photography ever committed to film - Caravaggio represents an impressive and enjoyable combination of art and cinema that is now, twenty years on, ripe for rediscovery.