Suddenly: Ranuccio - gulp, Sch.....eibenkleister, he CAN'T be so young (!) so strong (!) so emotional (!) we look at him, we want him. Who made the film? Yes. Jarman. That. one. is. gay. Zefix, nobody can tell me, HE didn't want him! The Sean is beautiful. But WE want him.
Then comes Tilda Swinton, and, astonishingly enough, so she had him, she didn't REALLY want him. In a way, that is good, because there are already already enough people around who want him.
... And oh yes... Actor playing Ranuccio: Sean Bean, young (!) blond (!) beautiful (!) at the same time: dangerous (!) mean (!) dirty (!) greedy (!) and sooo desireable ..
.. from a strictly cultural and intellectual point of view, as a critic
of a film, you understand (!) It is of course a Jarman Film. You have
to try to see his radical one sided point of view. You have to try, to
see the film through his eyes. It's not easy, but It's worth it. Of course,
then, when you look at Caravaggios paintings, I have one here,
you realise, that it is us looking through the eyes of Jarman who looked
through the eyes of Caravaggio. The Light. The Subject he painted. The
pouting of this so unholy John the Baptist .... hah! Nobody can tell me,
C. didn't want him....
And the film, that is actually a painting (or many paintings) goes on with some strange Brecht's breakings, as if too put a barriere sometimes into the flow of pictures. The pure emotion of drowning in the light and darkness, the compositions, the faces, is suddenly broken by the noice of a typewriter that doesn't fit in and your brain starts working again, you can abstract from what you see...
Thoughts: Caravaggio doesn't look at all happy with his painting. He seems more, as if he suffers from it, like a disease, he can't escape from. He looks at his models, as if he wants to take their soul, because out of a not understandable reason he just have to ban it on the canvas. And Jarman seems the same. He seems to HAVE to create films, have to bring a vision to the screen, but a vision of true people, as if also he wants to have, to capture their essence... And it is painful for him, and he doesn't like it, because he fears he might through the very process destroy what he wants to hold, like Caravaggio kills in the end Ranuccio, and then, there seems only pain left...
Yes. After that, Reality seems a little bit tame....but it is still summer, and life IS beautiful ;-)
Viele Gruesse aus Muenchen
rg, 26. September 2006
Infos about DVD and how to order (only available from Germany)
Darsteller: Sean Bean, Tilda Swinton, Garry Cooper,
Terry Nigel
Regisseur: Derek Jarman
Sprache: Englisch (with German Subtitles)
Bildseitenformat: 16:9
FSK: Freigegeben ab 12 Jahren
Studio: Salzgeber & Co. Medien GmbH
DVD-Erscheinungstermin: 26. September 2006
Spieldauer: 93 Minuten
DVD Features: Interviews mit Tilda Swinton, ..., Special Feature from
Prof. Dr. Klaus Krüger, read by him, mixed with stills and scenes
from the film
ASIN: B000ION3J8
can be directly ordered with: www.salzgeber.de
: 22,90 Euro
go to "Shop", go to "A-Z-Index"
look for "Caravaggio"
click on "Diesen Film bestellen als DVD", an order form both
in German/English opens, follow ordering process.
Salzgeber will deliver worldwide. If you want to know about costs of delivery, you can send an email (in English) to: video@salzgeber.de
can also be ordered with: www.amazon.de
: 22,99 Euro
please, be aware, that it can only be ordered
from GERMAN amazon.
Amazon will also deliver worldwide, costs of delivery depend on country,
for example Great-Britain is about 5 - 6 Euro, USA about 13 - 14 Euro
and: if you need some help, you might send an email to me ;-)
Infos wie immer bei Winona Kents Website (in englisch) www.compleatseanbean.com/caravag.html