Derek Jarman

31.01.1942, Nortwood, Velika Britanija - 19.02.1994, London, Velika Britanija

 

Director
Derek Jarman was born in Northwood (Middlesex, Great Britain) on January 31,
1942. His real name was Michael Jarman. He was educated at the King's College
(London) where he graduated in history and art. From 1963 till 1967 he studied
painting at the Slade School in London. In the early seventies he started
working on stage design for films The Devils (1971) and Savage Messiah
(1972) by Ken Russell. He shot numerous short films mostly on Super 8. In 1976
he shot his first motion picture Sebastiane. In the next twenty years
Jarman often interwove historical evocations with unexpected anachronisms,
particularly in his biographical films Caravaggio (1986) and
Wittgenstein (1993). His most important 'non-talking' films of the '80s
The Angelic Conversation (1985) and The Last of England (1987), are
marked by his artistic emotion. Homosexuality, the ever-present theme in his
films, is most prominent in the '90s films The Garden (1990), Edward
II (1992) and his last film Blue (1993). Derek Jarman died of AIDS in
London on February 19, 1994.

Filmography

Blue (1993)
Wittgenstein (1993)
Edward II (1992)
The Garden (1990)
War Requiem (1988)
Aria dio Depuis le jour (1987)
The Last of England (1987)
Caravaggio (1986)
The Angelic Conversation (1985)
In the Shadow of the Sun (1980)
The Tempest (1979)
Jubilee (1978)
Sebastiane (1976)


Related texts

Holy Derek

Films by this director

Sebastiane

(1976)

Directed by: Derek Jarman
Synopsis:

This experimental film, shot entirely in Latin, focuses on the summary of one man's life – a strictly religious, handsome Christian soldier of the Roman army – Sebastiane. He is sent to an isolated post where homosexuals rule. Sebastiene becomes the object of a centurion's desire. However, Sebastiane rejects his offers…

color, 85 min

Jubilee

(1977)

Directed by: Derek Jarman
Synopsis:

This is an unusual perspective of England’s future at the end of the 20th century. The burden of the film focuses on a weakly connected group of female outcasts, united in their hatred for all that is conventional, which eventually leads them into dark violence. Queen Elizabeth and her court magician Dr. John Dee are travelling through the England of the future, a post-punk and post-Thatcher ravaged country where civilisation has come to an end. This film cites William Shakespeare an...

color, 100 min

In the Shadow of the Sun

(1980)

Directed by: Derek Jarman
Synopsis:

In this experimental film Jarman screens hypnotic, non linear effects shot on a Super 8 with a musical background from Throbbing Gristle and Chris Carter.

color, 54 min

The Tempest

(1979)

Directed by: Derek Jarman
PHOTOGRAPHY: Peter Middleton
Synopsis:

Although shot in 1979, it was first screened a year later. The Tempest, shot on 16mm, is an abstract film loosely based on the magical "Shakespearean play". Jarman used the Shakespearean paradigm as the base for a homosexual metaphor…

color, 95 min

The Angelic Conversation

(1985)

Directed by: Derek Jarman
PHOTOGRAPHY: Derek Jarman
Synopsis:

The story is of the homosexual love of two men. An invisible woman recites Shakespeare's fourteen sonnets while a man pursues his love. Before he finds it, he has to undergo the odyssey of self-cleansing. Finally he is reunited with his dear friend.

color, 78 min

Caravaggio

(UK, 1986)

Directed by: Derek Jarman
PHOTOGRAPHY: Gabriel Beristain
Synopsis:

In his distinctive way, scriptwriter and director Derek Jarman overcomes traditional and conservative elements in the biography of the Renaissance artist Michelangelo Meris da Caravaggio. Nigel Terry plays the leading role, retelling the artist’s story through painting. He travels with thieves and prostitutes, many of whom model for his paintings. He kills a man, keeps a deaf and dumb child as a slave, and extravagantly spends every penny he earns…

color, 93'

The Last of England

(1987)

Directed by: Derek Jarman
PHOTOGRAPHY: Richard Heslop, Christopher Hughes, Derek Jarman, Cerith Wyn Evans
Synopsis:

This is a dark meditation on London during the time of Mrs. Thatcher. The artist's personal commentary on the collapse of his country is described in words much closer to poetry than prose. Old home footage and newer material shot with a hand-held 8mm camera were used to create a short film about recent events, with popular music and street sounds mixed together in a mosaic of apocalyptic allusions. The film is an adaptation of Jarman’s novel.

color, 87 min

The Garden

(1990)

Directed by: Derek Jarman
PHOTOGRAPHY: Christopher Hughes
Synopsis:

A speechless film where visual narration meanders between two main and several supporting stories. We follow a woman with a newborn child escaping from aggressive journalists. Two men get married and have to suffer the consequences; they are ridiculed, covered in tar and feathers and beaten. In Jarman's contemporary world of electrical transmissions there is room for Jesus too. Viewers who liked the elliptical, experimental style of music videos eagerly received The Garden, a film tha...

color, 90 min

Edward II

(1992)

Directed by: Derek Jarman
PHOTOGRAPHY: Ian Wilson
Synopsis:

An extremely ambitious variation on one of Christopher Marlowe's 16th century plays. It is the story of King Edward and of his overt homosexual behaviour, which led to his murder and to the crowning of a new king. Instead of placing the story in a lavish historical setting, Jarman used bare walls and dirty floors, while the actors wore elegant suits. Using a 20th century setting, the author evoked the homophobia still present today. This is an intelligent movie, marking a high point of Jarman's...

color, 91 min

Wittgenstein

(1993)

Directed by: Derek Jarman
PHOTOGRAPHY: James Welland
Synopsis:

This is a modern stage-style dramatization of the biography of the eccentric 20th century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose main interests were nature and linguistic boundaries. The film follows the life of the great philosopher from a childhood spent in repressive surroundings, illustrated by his family dressing in Roman togas, through World War I, to his education in Cambridge under the supervision of Bertrand Russell, and finally to his early death. The emphasis is put on Wit...

color, 75 min
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