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Directed by: Derek Jarman Starring: Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, Tilda Swinton, Robbie Coltrane, Noam Almaz Michelangelo Merisi di Caravaggio was one of the Renaissance's greatest painters. He was also a homosexual, a convicted criminal and a provocateur by which the world had never seen the likes. It was mostly thanks to the help of his friends that he managed to stay alive. It shouldn't really come as a surprise that Derek Jarman found him interesting enough to make a biopic about it; Jarman was a flagrant homosexual and was heavily criticized by conservative forces in Britain as well as film critics. His productions were made for very little money, Caravaggio was mostly financed by the BFI (British Film Institute). The first thing you should know about Jarman's movies is that they are gay. Very gay. Caravaggio is no exception to this. Most of the cast consists of young beautiful boys, several of them shirtless throughout the movie. There are only two females in the cast, and to add to insult, both are pretty unattractive. Combined with the male-male kissing, hugging, monologues about grabbing your apprentice's cock and lots of other homosexual stuff, this makes for a pretty gay experience. I thought the approach was interesting, but if you couldn't stomach Alexander, then you'd better stay away from this. This is one of the earliest film appearances of Sean Bean, and several of the other actors that appear in the film have gone on to pretty big careers afterwards. Having had my image of Sean Bean ruined by the "One does not _______ into Mordor" fad, it sure felt weird seeing him kiss a fourty-year-old man while posing for a painting. There are loads of anachronisms during the movie; people smoke cigarettes, a critic uses a typewriter, people appear in tuxedos and modern outfits, due to budget constraints. I didn't mind this aspect at all, actually, but I felt that the cheap sets ruined the mood a lot. The plot is murky and mystical, not very accessible, but understandable. Caravaggio is a pretty neat movie. It does a lot with little and tells a fascinating story. The cinematography is fascinating, with good use of chiaroscuro, and the music is also good. I'd recommend this for anyone with an open mind. RATING: 4.0 PROS: Very beautiful, interesting execution and great acting, especially by Terry CONS: Low budget shows in a lot of places ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090798/
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Mar 3, 2005 21:12
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