Films A to Z
Caravaggio
- Runtime:
- 93 min.
- Year of Production:
- 1986
- Country:
- Great Britain
- Director:
- Cast:
- Nigel Terry
Nigel Terry
Sean Bean
Tilda Swinton - Production Company:
- Berlinale Section:
- Retrospective
- Berlinale Category:
- Feature Film
On his deathbed, the painter Michelangelo Caravaggio (1571–1610) looks back on his life. In flashbacks we see his childhood in Bergamo and Milan, the man who fostered his talent, Cardinal Del Monte in Rome, the controversy over his realistic painting style, and above all, his relationships with his models. Caravaggio finds the models for his mainly religious paintings among outsiders. On his forays into the world of the poor, criminals, and drunkards, he meets the gambler Ranuccio and his lover, the prostitute Lena. The passionate love triangle comes to an abrupt end when the body of a pregnant Lena is pulled from the Tiber...
Jarman charts the (fictional) portrait of an artist lived between debauchery and social protest, transferring Caravaggio's art with an artistic verve of his own onto the screen. The artist could be considered the 'inventor' of film lighting, since the graduated brightness of his colours served a dramatic function. Caravaggio won a Silver Bear for 'outstanding single achievement' in visual composition at the 1986 Berlinale. This is the world premiere of the digitally restored version.
BIOGRAFIE Derek Jarman
Born 1942, died 1994. Studied painting and worked as a costume and set designer for the Royal Ballet. Worked as a set designer on Ken Russell’s 1970 film THE DEVILS. Made numerous short films before directing his first feature, SEBASTIANE, in 1976. His first film to screen at the Berlinale was THE TEMPEST in 1979. In addition to his subversive period dramas and experimental films, he began directing avant-garde music videos in the 1970s. He was also a committed campaigner for gay rights in Britain.
FILMOGRAFIE Derek Jarman (selection)
1993 Blue
1993 Wittgenstein
1991 Edward II
1990 The Garden
1989 War Requiem
1988 The Last of England
1987 Aria
1986 Caravaggio
1985 The Angelic Conversation
1984 Imagining October
1979 The Tempest
1977 Jubilee
1976 Sebastiane