Derek Jarman was the most important independent filmmaker in England during the 1980s. Using emblems and symbols in associative contexts, rather than conventional, cause-and-effect narrative, he created films noteworthy for their lyricism and poetic feeling and for their exploration of the gay experience. His style of filmmaking also links Jarman with other prominent directors of lyric film, including Pier Paolo Pasolini, Andrei Tarkovsky, Jean Cocteau, and Jean Genet.This path-finding book places Derek Jarman in the tradition of lyric film and offers incisive readings of all eleven of his feature-length films, from "Sebastiane" to "Blue". Steven Dillon looks at Jarman and other directors working in a similar vein to establish how lyric films are composed through the use of visual imagery and actual poetry. He then traces Jarman's use of imagery (notably mirrors and the sea) in his films and discusses in detail the relationship between cinematic representations and sexual identity. This insightful reading of Jarman's work helps us better understand how films such as "The Last of England" and "The Garden" can be said to cohere and mean without being reduced to clear messages.
Above all, Dillon's book reveals how truly beautiful and brilliant Jarman's movies are.
- ISBN10 029270223X
- ISBN13 9780292702233
- Publish Date 1 April 2004
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 13 July 2009
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of Texas Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 288
- Language English