Caravaggio (1986)

A retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century painter through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.

Director:

Derek Jarman

Writers:

Nicholas Ward Jackson (story), Derek Jarman,

Stars:

Noam Almaz, Dawn Archibald, Sean Bean

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Noam Almaz	...	Boy Caravaggio
Dawn Archibald	...	Pipo
Sean Bean	...	Ranuccio
Jack Birkett	...	The Pope
Sadie Corre	...	Princess Collona
Una Brandon-Jones	...	Weeping Woman
Imogen Claire	...	Lady with the Jewels
Robbie Coltrane	...	Scipione Borghese
Garry Cooper	...	Davide
Lol Coxhill	...	Old Priest
Nigel Davenport	...	Giustiniani
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Art Lover
Terry Downes	...	Bodyguard
Dexter Fletcher	...	Young Caravaggio
Michael Gough	...	Cardinal Del Monte

Storyline

A retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century painter through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.

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Plot Keywords:

painter | painting | knife fight | murder | italian culture | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Details

Official Sites:

Zeitgeist Films

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 August 1986 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Limehouse Studios, Limehouse, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$532 (USA) (26 April 2002)

Gross:

$3,151 (USA) (26 April 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Film Institute (BFI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Gough was fourth choice for the role of Del Monte.

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Goofs

A typewriter is used, a saxophone is played, a train and steamship hooter are heard. In addition one of the characters plays with a (very advanced for the time of the movie) credit card-sized calculator with beeping buttons. These items are included deliberately as a stylistic decision of the filmmakers, not "goofs" of people unaware of the absence of these items in the 1500s and 1600s.

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Quotes

Young Caravaggio: The process of painting is my knife!

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Connections

Referenced in QI: Adam (2003)

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Soundtracks

"MISSA LUX ET ORGIO"
By kind permission of Casa Musicale Eco (Milan)

User Reviews

Remarkable

Few moviegoers would know that the real Caravaggio was a convicted criminal and even by today's standards, a hell raiser. Rome's police records list fourteen citations in six years, from public nuisance to several violent assaults. In May of 1606 he murdered a friend, one Ranuccio Tomassoni in a sword fight. Added to these lurid details, his sexual interests show that he freely drifted from the Vatican's ordained model. This makes Caravaggio an interesting person, but a highly complex candidate for a biographic investigation on film.

While Derek Jarman's film captures (with delightful conceit) many of the surface details of Caravaggio's life, it's a work of startling genius because it succeeds on a far more profound level. Jarman tells the story of Caravaggio rather like Caravaggio would paint, infusing it (effortlessly) with the central themes of his life's deepest convictions, creating a portrait which reflects the subject and the artist with equal relevance. What's more, many of the same themes that have been identified with both artists - sexuality, transcendence, violence, censorship, politics (religious/sexual) and the tumultuous source of creative identity are present in both men. It works as very few films do. This is also an unusually accessible film for Derek Jarman. The performances are entertaining and it's filmed with astounding beauty and simplicity. This film is a masterpiece.

However, because of it's homosexual themes and personal tone, "Caravaggio" is likely to be appreciated only by those viewers who weary of film as simple diversion and long for something more challenging. This is a powerful artistic statement, but it flew under the radar during a decade of British film-making where "Gandhi", "Chariots of Fire" and "A Room With A View" represented the best of what was being made. While those films are great in their way, this film value is greater in terms of bravura and personal expression. See it if you can.