"All art is against lived expression. How can you compare flesh and blood against pigment?!!....I have trapped pure spirit in matter!"
Rarely would 5 stars not be sufficient to express the magnitude of greatness in a film, but Derek Jarman's 'CARAVAGGIO', the director's homage to the late Baroque painter, his life, his view of art, his sexuality and his struggle with life versus art, staggers the mind with the intense detail and love with which Jarman treats this fascinating and tortured artist. The film's director and the film's subject is best summed up in Caravaggio's quote while painting; "All art is against lived expression. How can you compare flesh and blood against pigment?!!....I have trapped pure spirit in matter!" This was the creed and the mission, almost Holy Grail of Caravaggio, as well as the late Jarman himself ; to take life and mimic art, and to make art mimic life!
Writer/director Derek Jarman and Italian masterpiece artist Michaelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) cannot and will not be separated in this film. The director and the artist are soul mates in life and art, 400 years apart in time, but indelibly linked in common purpose in life and purpose. Jarman, always the provocateur in film sees Caravaggio the same as himself; struggling against all convention, religion, and social norm to capture the human spirit on canvas and on film. Jarman honors Caravaggio's famous figures that illuminate out of the blackened background of the canvas rendering all of the film's scenes in that same spirit. Actors Nigel Terry, as Caravaggio; Tilda Swinton as Lena the prostitute; Sean Bean as the street trade object of desire Ranuccio Tomassoni; Michael Gough as the pederast Cardinal Del Monte; and Spencer Leigh as the deaf mute who is Caravaggio's lifelong apprentice Jerusalame are all realistically portrayed as the true humans they were in forming Caravaggio's stable of models, friends, rivals, tutors, admirers and jealous lovers, all of which were the real life people who were the John the Baptists, Baachus' and Virgin Mary's of his 50 great masterpieces. Jarman frames each scene as Caravaggio would have seen it; he shows us how the artist saw the human life as it was and painted it into The Divine. This, of course, was a prevailing criticism of the time placed upon Caravaggio's work; he used live models, not pictures, to portray what he was to put to canvas. This upset many other artisrs, and infuriated the Church, though secretly Cardinals and Popes commissioned his work as "intimate chamber pieces known for their homoerotic ambience" but hid them behind curtains in the Salon!)
Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman makes no apology for his open homosexuality, as Caravaggio made no apology for his work and fascination with the male form. Therefore, this film has a strong emotional connection between the filmmaker and the painter; the two understand one another deeply and Nigel Terry, as Caravaggio, is overwhelmingly the artist on screen. The subject of pederasty, older male taking under wing the younger male (which was quite common in the day- not just simply apprenticeship) is openly examined in 'CARAVAGGIO', relationships not only tutorial in the mind, but educational of the body also.There are many levels on which this film can be viewed. Jarman, undoubtedly intends it to be that way; 'CARAVAGGIO' is about art and the artist, but it is also about human desire, passion in life, and passion in Art.
One viewing of a Jarman film is NEVER sufficient. To see it as pornography (as some are wont to do) does no credit to the filmmaker or the 17th -century genius who gave us paintings such as "Death of the Virgin", "The Incredulity of Thomas", "The Cardsharps","The Calling of St. Matthew", "Amor Vincit Omnia","Boy With a Basket of Fruit", "Young Sick Baachus" as well as "The Entombment of Christ." Jarman cleverly and with awe and reverence "stages" all of these paintings with great precision within his film. Even the famous "The Calling of St. Matthew" is hilariously framed as a sniping news critic types his critique of Caravaggio in a bathtub with the famous "ray of light", that is in the painting, streaming through a window upon the man! Such is the imaginative Jarman, who never shies away from shocking images that to some seem senseless.
Caravaggio the artist, who was sexually open with both men and women, who was put into exile, who needed a papal pardon, who painted life as he saw it, who was constantly arrested for brawling and who died under mysterious and controversial circumstances and whose life has been biographied countless times by "experts" who vehemently disagree about him!
Jarman is not just wanting us to see Caravaggio as a historical figure, but is interested in painting a canvas of the celebration and hardships of humanity on film. ~ Kerrlines
"CARAVAGGIO' features wonderful performances from Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, and in her first role, Tilda Swinton, who was to become Jarman's muse and long time collaborator. A visual treat, it was the first major film production for award winning costume designer Sandy Powell, with luscious production design by Christopher Hobbs.
Film Information: 'Caravaggio'
Web: Cast, Bios and Additional Details at IMDb
Director: Derek Jarman
Writers: Nicholas Ward Jackson (story) and Derek Jarman (writer)
Cast, Crew & Credits: Full Cast, Crew & Credits
Genre: Drama, History
Awards: 3 wins & 1 nomination
Runtime: 93 min
Spoken Language: English
Film Preview Clip: 'Caravaggio' (Losing My Religion by REM-mp3)
Film File Download: 'Caravaggio'
| Method 1.) File Self Extraction. (For PC) Download files into the same folder. then click on the 'xxxx.part01.exe' file and the film will self extract. (For Mac) You will need a Command Line Archiver like Rar for Mac OS X' |
OST: 'Caravaggio 1610'
by Simon Fisher Turner
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Selections
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