Caravaggio (1986) is a British directed by Derek Jarman. The film is a strange, sensual visually striking telling of the life of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio — with a great deal of poetic license.
Jarman's movie is involved with the love triangle of Caravaggio (Nigel Terry ), Lena (Tilda Swinton) and Ranuccio (Sean Bean) and dwells upon Caravaggio's use of street people, drunks and prostitutes as models for his intense, usually religious paintings (see the link above for examples). As with Caravaggio's own use of contemporary dress for his Biblical figures, Jarman depicts his Caravaggio in a bar lit with electric lights, or another character using an electronic calculator.
The film is notable for its texture and attention to detail, the intense performances and the idiosyncratic humor, though at times it is difficult to fathom. This is not a biopic — no points for historical accuracy — but it does shed some light on one of the founders of the chiaroscuro technique, whose own legend (according to this one he died of wounds received in a knife fight) eclipsed his enormous talent.
There is also another Italian film Caravaggio (1948).
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Last updated: 05-19-2005 07:52:27
