Caravaggio (1986 film)

Last updated

Caravaggio
Caravaggio poster.jpg
Directed by Derek Jarman
Screenplay byDerek Jarman
Suso Cecchi d'Amico
Nicholas Ward-Jackson
Story byNicholas Ward-Jackson
Produced by Sarah Radclyffe
Starring Nigel Terry
Sean Bean
Tilda Swinton
Cinematography Gabriel Beristain
Edited by George Akers
Music by Simon Fisher-Turner
Distributed byCinevista (USA)
Umbrella Entertainment (AUS)
Release dates
United States:
29 August 1986
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£450,000 [1] or £475,000 [2]
Box office£240,000 (UK) [2]

Caravaggio is a 1986 British historical drama film directed by Derek Jarman. The film is a fictionalised retelling of the life of Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. It is Tilda Swinton's film debut.

Contents

Plot

Told in a segmented fashion, the film opens as Caravaggio dies from lead poisoning while in exile, with only his long-time, mute companion Jerusaleme, who was given by his family to the artist as a boy, by his side. Caravaggio thinks back to his life as a teenage street ruffian who hustles and paints. While taken ill and in the care of priests, young Caravaggio catches the eye of Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte. The Cardinal nurtures Caravaggio's artistic and intellectual development but seems to molest him.

As an adult, Caravaggio still lives under the roof and paints with the funding of Del Monte. Caravaggio is shown employing street people, drunks and prostitutes as models for his intense, usually religious paintings. He is depicted as frequently brawling, gambling, getting drunk and is implied to sleep with both male and female models. In the art world, Caravaggio is regarded as vulgar and entitled for his Vatican connections.

One day, Ranuccio, a street fighter for pay, catches Caravaggio's eye as a subject and potential lover. Ranuccio also introduces Caravaggio to his girlfriend Lena, who also becomes an object of attraction and a model to the artist. When both Ranuccio and Lena are separately caught kissing Caravaggio, each displays jealousy over the artist's attentions. One day, Lena announces she is pregnant without stating who the father is and will become a mistress to the wealthy Scipione Borghese. Soon, she is found murdered by drowning. Ranuccio weeps as Caravaggio and Jerusaleme clean Lena's body. Caravaggio is shown painting Lena after she dies and mournfully writhing with her body. Ranuccio is arrested for Lena's murder, but he claims to be innocent. Caravaggio pulls strings and goes to the pope to free Ranuccio. When Ranuccio is freed, he tells Caravaggio he killed Lena so they could be together. In response, Caravaggio cuts Ranuccio's throat, killing him. Back on his deathbed, Caravaggio is shown having visions of himself as a boy and trying to refuse the last rites offered him by the priests.

Cast

Production

Set design

In keeping with Caravaggio's use of contemporary dress for his Biblical figures, Jarman intentionally includes several anachronisms in the film that do not fit with Caravaggio's life in the 16th century. In one scene, Caravaggio is in a bar lit with electric lights. Another character is seen using an electronic calculator. Car horns are heard honking outside Caravaggio's studio, and in one scene, Caravaggio is seen leaning on a green truck. Cigarette smoking, a motorbike, and the use of a manual typewriter also featured in the film.[ citation needed ]

Production design

The production designer was Christopher Hobbs who was also responsible for the copies of Caravaggio paintings seen in the film. [3]

Details and awards

Caravaggio was Jarman's first project with Tilda Swinton, and it was her first film role. The cook Jennifer Paterson was an extra. The film was entered into the 36th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Silver Bear for an outstanding single achievement. [4]

Home media

Caravaggio was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in July 2008. The DVD is compatible with all region codes and includes special features such as the trailer, a gallery of production designs and storyboards, feature commentary by Gabriel Berestain, an interview with Christopher Hobbs titled Italy of the Memory, and interviews with Tilda Swinton, Derek Jarman, Nigel Terry. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caravaggio</span> Italian painter (1571–1610)

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of his life, he moved between Naples, Malta, and Sicily until his death. His paintings have been characterized by art critics as combining a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, which had a formative influence on Baroque painting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derek Jarman</span> British film director and artist (1942–1994)

Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, poet, gardener, and gay rights activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tilda Swinton</span> British actress

Katherine Matilda Swinton is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for three Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her as one of the greatest actors of the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galleria Borghese</span> Art gallery in Rome, Italy

The Galleria Borghese is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. At the outset, the gallery building was integrated with its gardens, but nowadays the Villa Borghese gardens are considered a separate tourist attraction. The Galleria Borghese houses a substantial part of the Borghese Collection of paintings, sculpture and antiquities, begun by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the nephew of Pope Paul V. The building was constructed by the architect Flaminio Ponzio, developing sketches by Scipione Borghese himself, who used it as a villa suburbana, a country villa at the edge of Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dirck van Baburen</span> Dutch painter (c.1595–1624)

Dirck Jaspersz. van Baburen was a Dutch painter and one of the Utrecht Caravaggisti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scipione Borghese</span> Italian Cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts

Scipione Borghese was an Italian cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts. A member of the Borghese family, he was the patron of the painter Caravaggio and the artist Bernini. His legacy is the establishment of the art collection at the Villa Borghese in Rome.

<i>Madonna and Child with St. Anne (Dei Palafrenieri)</i> Painting by Caravaggio

The Madonna and Child with St. Anne or Madonna and the Serpent, is one of the mature religious works of the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, painted in 1605–1606, for the altar of the Archconfraternity of the Papal Grooms in the Basilica of Saint Peter and taking its theme from Genesis 3:15. The painting was briefly exhibited in the parish church for the Vatican, Sant'Anna dei Palafrenieri, before its removal, due to its unorthodox portrayal of the Virgin Mary. There are a lot of reasons why the piece may have been removed, such as the nudity of the child Jesus and the Virgin Mary revealing too much of her breast. The reputation of the model that Caravaggio used to portray the Virgin Mary could be another reason as to why this altarpiece was withdrawn. The altarpiece was sold to Cardinal Scipione Borghese and now hangs in his palazzo.

<i>Boy Peeling Fruit</i> Painting by Caravaggio

Boy Peeling Fruit is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) painted circa 1592–1593.

<i>Boy with a Basket of Fruit</i> Painting by Caravaggio

Boy with a Basket of Fruit is an oil on canvas painting generally ascribed to Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, created c. 1593. It is held in the Galleria Borghese, in Rome.

<i>David with the Head of Goliath</i> (Caravaggio, Rome) Painting by Caravaggio

David with the Head of Goliath is a painting by the Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio. It is housed in the Galleria Borghese, Rome. The painting, which was in the collection of Cardinal Scipione Borghese in 1650, has been dated as early as 1605 and as late as 1609–1610, with more recent scholars tending towards the former.

<i>Bacchus</i> (Caravaggio) Painting by Caravaggio

Bacchus is an oil painting by Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) commissioned by Cardinal Del Monte. The painting shows a youthful Bacchus reclining in classical fashion with grapes and vine leaves in his hair, fingering the drawstring of his loosely draped robe. On a stone table in front of him is a bowl of fruit and a large carafe of red wine. He holds out a shallow goblet of the same wine, inviting the viewer to join him. The painting is currently held in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

John the Baptist was the subject of at least eight paintings by the Italian Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigel Terry</span> English actor (1945–2015)

Peter Nigel Terry was an English stage, film, and television actor, typically in historical and period roles. He played Prince John in Anthony Harvey's film The Lion in Winter (1968) and King Arthur in John Boorman's Excalibur (1981).

<i>Portrait of Pope Paul V</i> Painting by Caravaggio

Portrait of Pope Paul V is a painting attributed to the Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610), now in the Galleria Borghese, Rome.

<i>The Last of England</i> (film) 1987 British film

The Last of England is a 1987 British arthouse film directed by Derek Jarman and starring Tilda Swinton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi</span> Building in Rome, Italy

The Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi is a palace in Rome, Italy. It was built by the Borghese family on the Quirinal Hill; its footprint occupies the site where the ruins of the baths of Constantine stood, whose remains still are part of the basement of the main building, the Casino dell'Aurora. Its first inhabitant was the famed art collector Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the nephew of Pope Paul V, who wanted to be housed near the large papal Palazzo Quirinale. The palace and garden of the Pallavicini-Rospigliosi were the product of the accumulated sites and were designed by Giovanni Vasanzio and Carlo Maderno in 1611–16. Scipione owned this site for less than a decade, 1610–16, and commissioned the construction and decoration of the casino and pergolata, facing the garden of Montecavallo. The Roman palace of this name should not be mistaken for the panoramic Villa Pallavicino on the shores of Lake Como in Lombardy. The Palace has also been the scene of important cultural and religious events. On June 6, 1977 Princess Elvina Pallavicini invited in Palazzo Pallavicini Rospigliosi the archbishop monsignor Marcel Lefebvre for a conference on the Second Vatican Council and for the celebration of a Traditiona Mass, under the careful direction of the marquis Roberto Malvezzi, and Frigate Captain marquis Luigi Coda Nunziante di San Ferdinando. Many members of Alleanza Cattolica, the baron Roberto de Mattei, the pharmacologist Giulio Soldani, the sociologist Massimo Introvigne, the psychiatrist Mario Di Fiorino and Attilio Tamburrini and his brother Renato Tamburrini took part to the event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borghese Collection</span> Art collection owned by the Roman Borghese family

The Borghese Collection is a collection of Roman sculptures, old masters and modern art collected by the Roman Borghese family, especially Cardinal Scipione Borghese, from the 17th century on. It includes major collections of Caravaggio, Raphael, and Titian, and of ancient Roman art. Cardinal Scipione Borghese also bought widely from leading painters and sculptors of his time, and Scipione Borghese's commissions include two portrait busts by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Most of the collection remains intact and on display at the Galleria Borghese, although a significant sale of classical sculpture was made under duress to the Louvre in 1807.

Caravaggio, il pittore maledetto is a 1941 Italian historical drama film directed by Goffredo Alessandrini and starring Amedeo Nazzari, Clara Calamai and Lamberto Picasso. Nazzari portrays the painter Caravaggio as a wayward genius. It was one of his favourite screen roles.

<i>Caravaggio</i> (miniseries) TV series or program

Caravaggio is a 2007 Italian television miniseries directed by Angelo Longoni. The film is based on real life events of Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.

<i>Caravaggios Shadow</i> 2022 Italian film

Caravaggio's Shadow is a 2022 Italian-French historical drama film directed by Michele Placido.

References

  1. "Verging on the respectable." Sunday Times [London, England] 20 Apr. 1986: 45. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing" (PDF). British Film Institute. 2005. p. 20.
  3. "Christopher Hobbs obituary". The Guardian . 19 March 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  4. "Berlinale: 1986 Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  5. "Umbrella Entertainment". Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2013.