1986
Directed by Derek Jarman
750! Officially three-fourths of the way done! I know I am traveling at breakneck speed here so I thank everyone who is still keeping up with my reviews and sharing their thoughts! It is really helping me get through these last couple of months, which haven't been easy.
Caravaggio tells the story of Michelangelo with almost no accuracy and intentional anachronisms for some obscure artistic reason. Caravaggio lives a life of general debauchery, often sleeping with the many models he paints. He meets the sexy Ranuccio and his girlfriend Lena and develops feelings for both of them. Love hurts, etc.
What a great cast this film has. There, that is the only positive thing I can say about this film, as I thought it was incredibly dull, even though it was trying to shock us with its weirdness at every turn. It didn't get interesting until the very end and by then I had given up caring about any of these selfish characters.
I am puzzled as to why this was included on The List, but I suppose it is undeniably unique.
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
Tilda Swinton's first film.
Derek Jarman is difficult. For a director who is a highly committed gay rights advocate, I'm always disturbed that he makes his characters so .. unpleasant .. no, utterly nasty..
ReplyDeleteOk, so perhaps gay males in Hollywood are far too often stereotyped as cute, cuddly, well groomed, sophisticated clones of a girls best friend (we are back in Sex and the city zone, sorry).. Jarman's repeated portrayal as them being cruel, sadistic hard men .. I find very unpleasant.
Agreed. The message seemed to be their relationship was sick to begin with, so of course had to end badly.
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