Product Description This 4 DVD set boasts 2 of Jarman's most accomplished arthouse features (Caravaggio and Wittgenstein) and 2 of his most personal and avant-garde works (Blue and the Angelic Conversation). .com Glitterbox, with its extra film, Glitterbug, compiled by Derek Jarman's friends following his death, is an especially personal tribute to this idiosyncratic director, writer, and artist. Renowned for his outspoken dedication and experimental portrayals of politically radical heroes, Jarman's films challenge the conventions of narrative filmmaking and expand narrow definitions of sexuality. This boxed set contains The Angelic Conversation (1985), Caravaggio (1986), Wittgenstein (1993), and Blue (1993), which, viewed together, clarify Jarman's preoccupation with the ways language and imagery intertwines or demand separation. Each film contains heavy theatricality, unabashed passion, poetic screenwriting, and a finely tuned color palette, lending the works extreme drama that is an acquired taste. In The Angelic Conversation, a young Morrissey-type searches longingly for love until he finds his possible angel in the form of another hunky sensitive guy. The super-8 footage is romanticized by Judi Dench's reading of certain Shakespearean sonnets that question life's meaning, over a moody, ambient soundtrack by Coil. Caravaggio is an eccentric portrayal of the artist, Michelangelo di Caravaggio (Nigel Terry), embroiled in a hot love triangle between figure model Ranuccio (Sean Bean), and Lena (Tilda Swinton). Far from a conventional biopic, the film capitalizes on Caravaggio's maniacal reputation, with lurid decadence and emotionally weighty scenes throughout. Wittgenstein, co-written by Terry Eagleton, also takes liberties with its depiction of this famed philosopher, played by Karl Johnson. Filmed entirely against a black backdrop, the movie focuses on the thinker's homosexual identity crisis, throughout childhood, then as he makes academic headway at Cambridge. Blue, filmed right before Jarman's death as an expression of his fears and shock at his loss of eyesight, is 76 minutes of blue screen, which stirringly comes alive as Tilda Swinton and Nigel Terry read from Jarman's journals his musings about the color, against a soundtrack of ticking clocks and more composed by Eno, Momus, and Simon Fisher-Turner. Extras on each disc, including multitudinous interviews with Jarman's friends, the man himself, and a short film called "The Clearing" (1994), in which Jarman silently acts, are plentiful and great. But the real extra gem here is Glitterbug, a fifty-minute compilation of Jarman's unused home film and video footage, set to Brian Eno music. Filmed on sets, in artist's studios, at parties, fashion shows, and on travel excursions, Glitterbug is a visual diary of Jarman's inspirations. Moreover, as reference material it establishes his aesthetic sensibilities, his tastes for the lavish, the punk, and for other humans fully dedicated to art. --Trinie Dalton P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); Review "The most inventive and influential British art-filmmaker of his generation!" --The Washington Post"[Jarman's films] are inspired as much by art and literature as by film and they scream with a free approach to narrative, image, sound and sexuality....Jarman brought classicism to pop. Why else did The Smiths, the Pet Shop Boys and Suede each in their turn rush to adopt him as a director who would introduce style, intelligence and bravado to their videos and tours?" --Time Out London"One of the truly distinctive, original and even idiosyncratic talents in British film....the true successor to Pasolini." --Senses of Cinema See more
J**F
Perfect
My favorite film in this collection is Caravaggio, the cinematography is something to marvel at. But my most favorite thing is the half hour interview with Derek on The Angelic Conversation supplement, which adds dimension to The Last of England among others. Everything is great in this set. Now all I need is The Garden, all his short films and music videos, then I can die happy.
J**H
Four Jarman Essentials
The extras are as insightful as Derek Jarman's vision of the world. Listen to Judi Dench as you float through The Angelic Conversation and you will be touched. Tilda Swinton helps bring Jarman to life for the listener.
S**U
A half-way great introduction to Jarman's work--Caravaggio and Wittgenstein are essential
A half-way great introduction to Jarman's work--Caravaggio and Wittgenstein are essential. The Angelic Conversation and Blue are unwatchable for the most part. Combined with Kino's Derek Jarman Collection, it is excellent.
H**O
RECOMMENDED
RECOMMENDED FOR JARMAN'S FANS, PEOPLE WHO LOVE EXPERIMENTAL FILMS AND GAY-FRIENDLY PEOPLE...WELL, NOT FOR EVERYONE. THIS BOXSET SHOWS THE HARD WORK FROM THE MANUFACTURERS AND THE PRODUCERS.
K**I
Five Stars
Great!
D**N
Five Stars
Genius
S**Y
hatching a tube
Caravaggio from the `Glitterbox' is a good reference. The scenes are like places to sing where an audience could catch on. It's simple to say I know what's going to happen next, but it's also simple to say only some people should find a movie about Caravaggio simple. It puts the drama in di-o-rama.
D**M
Fabulous Window into Jarman's Central Question: How Can Outsiders Form Community?
I'm struck by the coincidence that Zeitgeist's remarkable retrospective of some of Jarman's greatest works -- was released in the same week that Disney opened "Wall.E," which also raises the question about accepting outsiders.Of course, it's a slam dunk that people want to hug the lovable little robot. Jarman's challenge is far higher octane. He was -- until his untimely death from AIDS in the 1990s -- a real-life, sometimes-fire-breathing, British artist and activist.Solid evidence of Jarman's stature of an artist is the Who's Who of famous British actors and actresses who worked in his avante garde productions, including Judith Dench, Tilda Swinton and even Laurence Olivier, who made his final film, "War Requiem," with Jarman. (However, "War Requiem" isn't in this particular set.)But, Jarman wasn't interested in celebrity. Rather, he was deadly serious about probing the outer boundaries. He had no interest in producing Hollywood hits. Quite the contrary. In fact, the "extras" in this new DVD set include an interview with Jarman in which he makes precisely that point.In one interview, he says that his whole body of work was intended as a critique of American cinema. It wasn't a question of artistic options. He had lots of lucrative work from which to choose. In his prime, for instance, Jarman was a sought-after director of music videos. When his late-in-life production, "Blue," was released -- a joint broadcast was arranged involving both British television and radio networks to broadcast the image and the audio in optimal quality throughout the UK. (And, "Blue" is in this new set.)No, Jarman followed the road less traveled because the question he wanted to ask over and over again is: How do true outsiders form community?In this new DVD set, you'll get a real glimpse of his range as an artist, designer and director. For example, there is painstaking work behind the shadowy opening scenes of his "Caravaggio." It's a feature-length film about the artist who took Rome by storm around 1600 with huge, dramatic canvases that reinterpreted traditional spiritual themes. These opening scenes are as gorgeous as the artist's paintings themselves. But we soon realize that Jarman is, above all, an artistic provocateur -- when we suddenly hear the distant sound of a freight train! In 1600? And, then, we discover a malicious nobleman tapping on a hand-held calculator -- and suddenly characters show up in tuxedos!What Jarman really is doing here is extending the questions raised by "Caravaggio" into our present age. By the middle of the film, we already can see how an outsider artist can summon incredible spiritual gifts. Caravaggio's paintings helped people to see biblical stories in entirely new ways. But his status as a highly controversial and emotionally troubled rebel almost defied any community to embrace him.Jarmans' films are challenging, intellectual, not for young viewers -- and even an aquired taste for adult viewers -- but I am amazed, on the week of the "Wall.E" release to have an opportunity, as well, to reflect on the brilliant insights of a true outsider, as well.
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