Caravaggio

Director: Derek Jarman Derek Jarman

Overview

This film is a biography of Renaissance artist Michelangelo Merisa da Caravaggio, who traveled with thieves and prostitutes, kept a child as a virtual slave, and told his life story through his paintings.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/24/2008
UPC:	0795975110136
Original Release:	1986
Rating:	NR
Source:	Zeitgeist Films
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:30:00
Sales rank:	39,827

Special Features

Video interviews with actress, Tilda Swinton, actor Nigel Terry and production designer Christopher Hobbs; Audio commentary by cinematographer Gabriel Beristain; Rare audio and video interviews with Derek Jarman; Storyboard, notebook, production photo and design sketch galleries; British theatrical trailer; Liner notes by film critic/producer Colin MacCabe

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Nigel Terry	Caravaggio
Sean Bean	Ranuccio Thomasoni
Garry Cooper	Davide
Spencer Leigh	Jerusaleme
Tilda Swinton	Lena
Michael Gough	Cardinal Del Monte
Nigel Davenport	Marchese Giustiniani
Robbie Coltrane	Cardinal Borghese
Jonathan Hyde	Baglione
Dexter Fletcher	Young Caravaggio
Noam Almaz	Boy Caravaggio
Jack Birkett	The Pope
Dawn Archibald	Pipo
Sadie Corre	Princess Collona
Una Brandon-Jones	Weeping Woman
Imogen Claire	Lady with the Jewels
Lol Coxhill	Old Priest
Vernon Dobtcheff	Art Lover
Zohra Segal	Jerualeme's Grandmother
Simon Turner	Fra Fillipo
Terry Downes	Bodyguard
Emile Nicolaou	Young Jerusaleme
Sadie Corré	Princess Collona
Gene October	Model Peeling Fruit
Cindy Oswin	Lady Elizabeth
John Rogan	Vatican Official
Zohra Sehgal	Jerualeme's Grandmother
Lucien Taylor	Boy with Guitar
Simon Fisher Turner	Fra Fillipo,Composer
Mary Phillips	Composer

Technical Credits

Derek Jarman

Nicholas Ward Jackson

Derek Jarman	Director,Screenwriter
Sarah Radclyffe	Producer
Nicholas Ward Jackson	Producer,Screenwriter

Scene Index

Introduction
1.The Early Years
2.The Roman Years
3.The Last Evolution
Conclusion
List of Illustrations

Editorial Reviews

Derek Jarman's first 35mm film and one of his most mainstream works, this iconoclastic biopic explores the connections among sex, art, and money in the complicated life of 17th century painter Caravaggio. Deliberately injecting modern anachronisms into his portrait of Renaissance Italy, Jarman eschews traditional biography in favor of key moments in Caravaggio's relationships with his patrons and especially his models Ranuccio and Lena. Through Caravaggio's deathbed memories, Jarman reveals the impact of Caravaggio's taboo sexuality on his church-funded paintings, as hustlers and prostitutes portray saints for a system corrupted by financial imperative. Recreating Caravaggio's most famous works with live actors, and shooting in a style true to Caravaggio's chiaroscuro aesthetic, Jarman creates a seductive yet foreboding visual atmosphere surrounding Nigel Terry's brooding artist. Winner of the Silver Bear at the 1986 Berlin Film Festival, Caravaggio was a critical and art house success, ushering in Jarman's second period of feature filmmaking before his death from AIDS in 1994.