_6b0f964cba3ea1effeea4c5af52cf506.jpg "Derek Jarman")
Edward II
- Director: Derek Jarman
- Writer: Christopher Marlowe; Derek Jarman
- Producer: Takashi Asai; Steve Clark-Hall
CGiii Comment
Jarman is difficult for most.
Here, he does himself no favours...by adapting and mutilating Marlowe's play.
There are no complaints about the central acting - it is the periphery that is a distraction and a problem - the inclusion of male nudity is tiresome and cumbersome.
The imagery is a delightful botched job - his stream of imaginative thought is truncated and random.
All that said, Jarman was experimental which should be applauded - but, like alchemy, nothing ever worked.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
In this Derek Jarman version of Christopher Marlowe's Elisabethan drama, in modern costumes and settings, Plantagenet king Edward II hands the power-craving nobility the perfect excuse by taking as lover besides his diplomatic wife, the French princess Isabel, not an acceptable lady at court but the ambitious Piers Gaveston, who uses his favor in bed even to wield political influence - the stage is set for a palace revolt which sends the gay pair from the throne to a terminal torture dungeon.
Cast & Characters
Steven Waddington as Edward II;
Kevin Collins as Lightborn, the Jailor;
Andrew Tiernan as Piers Gaveston;
John Lynch as Spencer;
Dudley Sutton as Bishop of Winchester;
Tilda Swinton as Isabella;
Jerome Flynn as Kent;
Jody Graber as Prince Edward;
Nigel Terry as Mortimer;
Jill Balcon as Chorus of Nobility;
Barbara New as Chorus of Nobility;
Andrea Miller as Chorus of Nobility;
Brian Mitchell as Chorus of Nobility;
David Glover as Chorus of Nobility;
John Quentin as Chorus of Nobility