or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
More Buying Choices
Amazon Add to Cart
£11.70
Springwood Media Add to Cart
£14.99
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Colour:
Image not available

 

Caravaggio [1986] [DVD]

Nigel Terry , Sean Bean , Derek Jarman    Suitable for 18 years and over   DVD
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
Price: £11.00 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Sold by A2Z Entertains and Fulfilled by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.
Want delivery by Saturday, 25 May? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
Learn about LOVEFiLM
Amazon’s film and TV subscription service with unlimited access to thousands of titles to watch instantly, many in HD at no extra cost. Go to LOVEFiLM for title availability. Enjoy a 30-day free trial and watch across many devices including the Kindle Fire. Learn more at LOVEFiLM.com

Frequently Bought Together

Caravaggio [1986] [DVD] + Sebastiane [DVD] + Edward II [DVD] [1991]
Price For All Three: £34.05

Some of these items are dispatched sooner than the others.

Buy the selected items together

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Product details

  • Actors: Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, Tilda Swinton, Mark Tildesley, Michael Gough
  • Directors: Derek Jarman
  • Format: PAL, Anamorphic, Widescreen
  • Language: English
  • Subtitles: English
  • Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired: English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.85:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 18
  • Studio: Bfi
  • DVD Release Date: 29 Jan 2007
  • Run Time: 89 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000LMPHEG
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 26,563 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

Reviews

Product Description

Derek Jarman's stylised biopic about the life of the early Renaissance Italian painter Caravaggio, who died in 1610. Caravaggio (Nigel Terry) uses street thug Ranuccio Thomasoni (Sean Bean) as a model for his erotic paintings of St John, and a homosexual attraction between the two men is gradually revealed. Jarman's film includes deliberate anachronisms, including mortobikes and typewriters in seventeenth century Italy.

Product Description

Writer/director Derek Jarman's superb, visionary art film stars Nigel Terry (The Lion in Winter; Excalibur) as the great Renaissance artist Michelangelo Merisa da Caravaggio whom, according to Jarman, essentially told his own life story in his paintings. Sean Bean (When Saturday Comes; Anna Karenina; Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring; Black Death; Tv's - Bravo Two Zero; Sharpe) is a revelation in this very early role, as he plays Ranucio, the love interest of Caravaggio. When he is on screen he steals the movie, as his animal magnetism, sexual energy, and wild persona grip the film and propel the story forward.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Jarman classic 24 Jun 2008
By Room For A View VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD
Beyond Caravagio's art there is very little evidence to support an in depth biographical study. What there is (principally a few police records) may or may not suggest a violent man prone to fits of jealous rage and violent behaviour. Jarman, however, provides a beautifully realised poetical interpretation, charged with a latent sexuality, that conveys a complex blend of urban poverty and aristocratic patronage. Jarman succeeds in placing a 'modern day' Caravaggio amongst his baroque compositions, recognising the artists's immense talent for the human form, light and shadow and use of colour. The acting is awesome and the sets show how a highly imaginative crew can pull together the essence of a period with grace and historical insight. Amazing.
Was this review helpful to you?
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Quite simply unlike any other biographical film you will ever see, Derek Jarman's acclaimed production of Caravaggio (1986) is a lovingly constructed, highly personal cross-reference of tormented sixteenth century genius, twentieth century iconography and a somewhat satire on the shallowness of the burgeoning eighties' art scene of which Jarman was very much part of. Exploring Caravaggio's life through his work, the film distinctively merges fact, fiction, legend and imagination in a bold and confident approach that will probably leave serious art enthusiasts and casual viewers outraged by the complete disregard for accurate, historical storytelling.

Shot with a typically avant-garde approach, director/writer Jarman doesn't so much fashion a biography of the artist, but rather, creates a personal reflection of the man using intimate characteristics that appeal to his filmmaking sensibilities. This makes Caravaggio more of an interpretation of the filmmaker than the artist himself; somewhat self-indulgently focusing on Caravaggio's struggle with bisexuality, perfectionism and wanton obsession; perhaps even glossing over the more intricate workings of the character, for instance, his own passion for art and his battles with the various religious and creative constraints of the period.

It's a shame some of these ideas aren't further elaborated upon, because, at its heart, Caravaggio is really an exceptional film. As I commented earlier, it's perhaps unlike any other film you will ever see; an iconoclastic vision with a cinematic imagination that knows no bounds. Caravaggio is a film in which a 16th century setting gives way to the various anachronisms of passing trains, tuxedoes, motorbikes, typewriters and chic nightclub settings. It is a film in which every frame is rendered in reference to the artist's work, composed with rich, shadowy colours that bring to mind the contrast between fresh and rotting fruit, and an unrivalled interplay between sound and production design that is reminiscent in its intense savagery of two dogs angrily ripping each other to pieces.

There is no other 'based on fact film' that has demonstrated such a wild and evocative recreation of real-life hysteria and events, with the possible exception of Peter Jackson's masterful Heavenly Creatures (1994) or even some of Jarman's subsequent projects like Edward II (1991) and Wittgenstein (1994). With a cast of now very well known faces, such as Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, Tilda Swinton, Michael Gough, Dexter Fletcher and Robbie Coltrane - not to mention some of the most beautiful photography ever committed to film - Caravaggio represents an impressive and enjoyable combination of art and cinema that is now, twenty years on, ripe for rediscovery.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
40 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
every shot in this beautiful film is like one of caravaggio's paintings - a true masterpiece of cinematography. jarman shows his story telling skills off to the full, sharing his obvious fondness for the artist and his works to the extent that you feel compelled to go away and see more of his paintings for yourself after having watched this. dexter fletcher plays the young and precocious caravaggio as only one so young and precocious could, and sean bean is wonderfully spiteful and sexy as his muse. this is a film for the faint hearted art film fan - as jarman fills the film with his trademark humour eccentricities to keep you on your toes.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Derek Jarman's biopic covers the life of painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), beginning with his time as a teenager (Dexter Fletcher) with raw talent who is... Read more
Published 27 days ago by D Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars A feast for all the senses.
Whatever you think of the controversial English film-maker, Derek Jarman, don't let it put you off this 1986 work. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Mr. P. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars The artist and his art
An unsual movie! Considering the facts of Caravaggio's life, death and his art, this cinematographic piece of art resembles a slightly hermetic reflection on human existence, a... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Suzy
5.0 out of 5 stars Marvellous
Derek Jarman's output was patchy, to say the least. Some of his films were so-so ("War Requiem"), some downright bad ("Blue"), but with "Caravaggio" he hit the jackpot. Read more
Published 16 months ago by J. Rottweiller Swinburne
1.0 out of 5 stars Utter, utter, nonsense.
This film is so bad it angered me.
Be warned, this film IS NOT about the artist Caravaggio, it is about Derek Jarman the 'director'. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mr. R. Winstanley
5.0 out of 5 stars Caravaggio published by Taschen
An outstanding book. The illustrations are outstanding and having seen many of Caravaggio's paintings in gloomy and often overcrowded churches, it is a delight to turn each page to... Read more
Published 17 months ago by CT
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
An incredible film. Fascinating, very clever and extremely beautiful. The sizzling swing scene with a young Sean Bean and Tilda Swanson shows us Jarman's mastery of film. Read more
Published on 13 May 2011 by Sharpshooter
5.0 out of 5 stars Elegiac, elegant and unforgettable
Derek Jarman crafted a beautiful and unique work of art in "Caravaggio". Perhaps the fact that I have a great love for the work of the real Michelangelo Caravaggio, influences my... Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2011 by Marc Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars caravaggio
Like some of the other reviewers I found this film confusing at first but I put it aside, read the reviews and came back to it later. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2011 by Bridget Arregger
1.0 out of 5 stars Caravaggio
Maybe I'm missing something here -but I am glad I rented this film as after having viewed it -I certainly would NOT buy this bizarre interpretation of the great Caravaggio's life! Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2011 by Matt Ellis
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Feedback


A2Z Entertains Privacy Statement A2Z Entertains Delivery Information A2Z Entertains Returns & Exchanges