Jarman

Jarman's Films

11 features

  1. Sebastiane (1976)
  2. Jubilee (1977)
  3. The Tempest (1979)
  4. The Angelic Conversation (1985)
  5. Caravaggio (1986)
  6. The Last of England (1987)
  7. War Requiem (1988)
  8. The Garden (1990)
  9. Edward II (1991)
  10. Wittgenstein (1992)
  11. Blue (1993)

37 shorts

  1. "Studio Bankside" (1970)
  2. "A Journey to Avebury" (1971)
  3. "Miss Gaby" (1972)
  4. "Garden of Luxor" (1972)
  5. "Andrew Logan Kisses the Glitterati" (1972)
  6. "A Walk on Møn" (1973)
  7. "Sulphur" (1973)
  8. "Stolen Apples for Karen Blixen" (1973)
  9. "Art of Mirrors" (1973)
  10. "Ula's Fete" (1974)
  11. "Fire Island" (1974)
  12. "Duggie Fields" (1974)
  13. "The Devils at the Elgin" (1974)
  14. "Sebastiane Wrap" (1975)
  15. "Picnic at Ray's" (1975)
  16. "Sea of Storms" (1976)
  17. "Gerald's Film" (1976)
  18. "Art and the Pose" (1976)
  19. "Jordan's Dance" (1977)
  20. "Every Woman for Herself and All for Art" (1977)
  21. "The Pantheon" (1978)
  22. "In the Shadow of the Sun" (1980)
  23. "T.G.: Psychic Rally in Heaven" (1981)
  24. "Sloane Square: A Room of One's Own" (aka "Removal Party") (1981)
  25. "Jordan's Wedding" (1981)
  26. "Pontormo and Punks at Santa Croce" (1982)
  27. "Ken's First Film" (1982)
  28. "Waiting for Waiting for Godot" (1983)
  29. "Pirate Tape" (1983)
  30. "B2 Tape" (aka "B2 Film") (1983)
  31. "Imagining October" (1984)
  32. Aria (1987) — segment "Depuis le jour"
  33. "L'Ispirazione" (1988)
  34. Pet Shop Boys: Videography (1991) — music videos "It's a Sin" and "Rent"
  35. "The Next Life" (1993)
  36. "Glitterbug" (one hour of excerpts culled from Jarman's extensive home movies from 1970–1985) (1994)
  37. The Smiths: The Complete Picture (2000) — music videos

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The Films of Derek Jarman

The Angelic Conversation

The Angelic Conversation 1985 — 78 minutes, color and black & white, aspect ratio 1.33:1 — Experimental Drama

Essential Jarman. A young man searches for love, in a dreamlike landscape, while an offscreen narrator (Judi Dench) recites a dozen Shakespeare sonnets.

ImageReview – coming June 24

Brief introduction...

Jarman's The Angelic Conversation is a lyrical, haunting film about a young man's search for love, and his encounter with an ethereal, and tattooed, being — who may or may not be an angel. Jarman called this "My most austere work, but also the closest to my heart."

The film, shot on Super-8 but blown up to 35mm, uses a variation on stop-motion photography, and dreamlike natural locations, to create its unique visual style.

To achieve the evocative soundscape, Jarman layers languorous music by the cult band Coil (whose members include John Balance, Peter Christopherson, and Stephen Thrower), the orchestral "Sea Interludes" from Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes, and Dame Judi Dench's (Shakespeare in Love) emotive readings of Shakespeare's love sonnets.

By the way, the film's homoeroticism is in keeping with Shakespeare, who addresses two-thirds of his sonnets — including Sonnet XVIII: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" — to a beautiful, haughty young man (talk about Elizabethan "attitude") with whom he was passionately in love. That aspect of the Bard was conspicuously missing from the aforementioned Shakespeare in Love, but it is speculated upon in many works of both scholarship and fiction, including Oscar Wilde's intriguing novella, The Portrait of Mr. W.H.

PLEASE NOTE that The Angelic Conversation is only available as part of the four-disc set, Glitterbox: Derek Jarman x 4.

Full review coming for the DVD's release date of June 24, 2008.

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Crew

  • Directed and Photographed by Derek Jarman
  • Text: Sonnets by William Shakespeare
  • Produced by James Mackay
  • Production Designer: Christopher Hobbs
  • Edited by Peter Cartwright, Derek Jarman, and Cerith Wyn Evans
  • Working in various capacities: Dave Baby, Timothy Burke, Simon Costin, Christopher Hobbs, Philip McDonald, Toby Mott, Steve Randall, Robert Sharp, and Tony Wood
  • Original Music by Coil (John Balance, Peter Christopherson, and Stephen Thrower)
  • Music by Benjamin Britten – "Sea Interludes" from the opera Peter Grimes

Cast

  • Judi Dench (voice)
  • Paul Reynolds
  • Phillip Williamson

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DVD

Zeitgeist Films' DVD will be reviewed for its image and sound quality. Following is a list of special features for this release.

DVD Details

Glitterbox

Reviewed June 24, 2008 (forthcoming)

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