Caravaggio (Blu-ray)
Hugely significant to Derek Jarman, his biopic of the Italian Baroque painter with whom he strongly identified was developed over many years.
Ultimately shot on 35mm film, it looks incredible: the tableaux and sets project rich, painterly depth, brightness and colour. Sean Bean and Tilda Swinton deliver fine performances as the model and partner caught up in a complex – and fatally doomed – love triangle with the famous artist. Caravaggio struggles to reconcile the demands of authority (in the form of his church patrons) with his own artistic and sexual needs – a tension then very close to Jarman’s heart.
Available here in High Definition for the first time outside of 2018’s Jarman Vol.1 (1972-1986), Caravaggio is arguably the director’s most popular film.
Region B Blu-ray: Australian compatible
Special Features
- Caravaggio in Docklands (1985, 15 mins): shot on VHS by director Ron Peck (Nighthawks), this footage was recorded at Limehouse Studios on the Isle of Dogs, East London where Derek was about to shoot Caravaggio
- Kind Blasphemy: Nigel Terry on Derek Jarman and Caravaggio (2007, 7 mins): the actor and star of Caravaggio shares his memories of meeting and working with Derek Jarman
- Tilda Swinton on Caravaggio and Derek Jarman (2007, 9 mins): interview with the Oscar-winning actress
- Italy of the Memory: Christopher Hobbs on Caravaggio (2007, 8 mins): archive interview with the film’s production designer
- Dexter Fletcher on Caravaggio (2014, 10 mins): the actor and director recalls his first meeting with Derek Jarman
- Christopher Hobbs Remembers Caravaggio (2018, 6 mins): further reminiscences of the making of Caravaggio
- Derek Jarman interviewed by Derek Malcolm (1986, 58 mins, audio only)
- Caravaggio Score Recording Sessions (1986, 64 mins, audio only): extensive new selection of hauntingly beautiful audio outtakes
- Audio commentary with Cinematographer Gabriel Beristan
- Assorted Galleries: Derek Jarman’s Notebook, Storyboards, Production Designs and original notes by Jarman
- Original theatrical trailer