King of Hearts
Added 9/27/2009
"Edward II" is a stunning adaptation by the late Derek Jarman of Christopher Marlowe's Renaissance-era play. Jarman's production is spare, yet powerful. It wafts, dreamlike, between the captive Edward and flashbacks of his former days. Steven Waddington is excellent as Edward II-torn between kingly duty and his lower-class lover,Piers Gaveston. Tilda Swinton is icy as Queen Isabella, foreshadowing her role as the White Witch.
"Edward II" places the medieval story in '80s Thatcher-era England, when homosexuals were singled out as scapegoats. In the movie, the militaristic Mortimer is romping with two girlfriends-- who then make out with each other. Isabella is promiscuous with other men- from taking Mortimer as her lover to flirting with her husband's executioner. Towards the end, Edward leads a Gay Pride protest. In an odd way, the movie is strikingly timely, with the passage of Prop.8 in California and the battle over Measure 1 in Maine.
"Edward II" is a superbly made tragedy. Between an excellent cast, to great music (Annie Lennox appears to sing "Every time we say goodbye") It goes between the spartan (Edward's prison) and the sensual (there's a male group nude wrestling scene,for some reason) "Edward II" is a cinematic classic. It's an essential of experimental movies.
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Almost Shakespearean
Added 1/5/2009
An avant-garde film that won't appeal to all tastes, Derek Jarman's "Edward II" takes Christopher Marlowe's Shakespearean-era play and imbues it with a modern sensibility. The minimal sets look as though they were thrown together in an abandoned warehouse or airplane hangar, and successfully convey a stifling atmosphere of labyrinthine darkness, decadence, and murder most foul.
As Edward II, Steven Waddington does what he can with a role that seems to be seriously underwritten. Not having read the original play, I'm not sure if that's attributable to Marlowe or to Derek Jarman (who also co-wrote the screenplay), but Edward never emerges as much more than a character on a page: there's nothing much "kingly" about him, he's not terribly bright, and his motivations seem to change, depending on the scene. Far more successful, I thought, was Andrew Tiernan, as the flashier, much-despised lover of the king, Piers Gaveston. Tiernan plays Gaveston as a fop with an attitude, a scheming, snarky twink with dollar signs in his eyes, and a block of ice for a heart. He plays up to poor, dimwitted Edward, making him believe that he loves him, but the only person Gaveston cares about is Gaveston. He's presented as a villain, but he's certainly no worse than Nigel Terry's power-hungry Mortimer, whose own scheming, and canoodling with Edward's sex-starved Queen Isabella (Tilda Swinton), have devastating consequences. Terry, a veteran actor, turns in a fine performance here, while Swinton (one of only a handful of actors I'd characterize as "luminous") has never been more breathtaking; her Isabella is regal and proper, but with fire blazing beneath the cultivated fashionista veneer. Jarman's partner, Kevin Collins, has a key role as the jailer, and he makes the most of it. His ability to convey the deepest emotions with minimal dialogue is both moving and impressive. And Annie Lennox has a brief, beautiful scene as a singer, which only made me wish that she had a bigger part, because she's got a terrific presence.
At the end of the day, "Edward II", while not a perfect film, is far from a waste of time. It's sort of like Shakespeare with a kink, an under-developed, yet mesmerizing, foray into royal intrigue that links its subject matter to modern issues (AIDS, gay liberation) while eschewing the tired casting of porno coverboys as the principal male leads. The film is commendable on a number of levels, and its shortcomings are overshadowed by Jarman's fine direction and vision, by many of the performances, and by the overall quality of the production.
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Art movie about power and revenge
Added 12/29/2008
I wanted to see this movie because it stars Tilda Swinton, art movie goddess of great talent and beauty. Film is about King Edward II who upon his father's death and inheritance to power invites from exile his lover, Galveston. Court is appalled that Galvaston is all that Edward II can think about and that Edward does not care that his lover is cruel, uncaring and greedy and steals money from the treasury. Edward's wife and Queen is rejected upon Galveston's arrival and finds herself on the sideline of power. Born of noble blood, she is deeply hurt by her treatment by the King and decides to plot a revenge and take over the power herself.
Fantastic costumes and jewelry. Queen's makeup is amazing, she is hypnotizing to all but Edward. This performance feels more like theatre on DVD. Annie Lennox's musical performance is beautiful and quite unexpected.
Film will get everyone thinking about lure of power and wealth, desire to hang onto it no matter what the consequences. It also tackles the notion of double standards. While homosexuality is frawned upon, the murder, orgy, adultery and betrayal seem to be almost expected and accepted by the great majority or realm's subjects. This film is not for everyone. It is definitely for mature audiences with sophisticated tastes. Short dancing scene between two male dancers is the best part of the film - treat for ballet lovers.
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Modern Marlowe
Added 5/8/2008
"Edward II"
Modern Marlowe
Amos Lassen
The Derek Jarman film version of Christopher Marlowe's Elizabethan drama, "Edward II" is a visual feast. Jarman dresses his characters in modern costumes and has them perform against a modern setting. Edward Plantagenet tells his power hungry nobility his perfect excuse for taking his male lover, Piers Gaveston, to the court and that is because his wife, the French princess Isabel, is not acceptable to his subjects. Gaveston uses his sexual favors for political influence and the stage is set for a palace revolt which sends Edward and Piers from royalty to the dungeon.
"Edward II" is the most perfect of Jarman's films in regard to his use of innovation in cinema as it mixes surrealism, shifts in perspective, and an take on the political implications of gay liberation. This adaptation of the 500 year old play by Christopher Marlowe is about the doomed, gay and deposed king. Jarman kept the major themes of the original play and the dialog as well and placed the story in the present day and he strives to find the genesis of contemporary homophobia and class bigotry.
"Edward II" is a brilliant mish mash of history and is beautiful to see. It is dark and brooding and erotic as Jarman brings the viewer into medieval England and tells the story of a love at a time when such a love could be fatal. It is brilliantly acted and set in Jarman's abstract vision with a message that is still valid today. Jarman treats his film as if he is painting on a blank canvas and he makes a strong statement about intolerance.
There is full frontal male nudity and a very passionate scene between two naked men but the highlight of the film is the acting and the costumes and the absolutely gorgeous way that the film looks.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Christopher Marlowe's tragedy given new and innovative voice
Added 3/28/2008
As playwright Christopher Marlowe is considered to be the first Elizabethan Tragedian, and therefore pioneer to the up and coming Shakespeare (see Shakespeare in Love for an excellent film treatment of this subject), the late Derek Jarman, Fellow of the British Film Institute for his lifelong contribution to British Cinema, can be viewed as a "pioneer" for filmmakers who dared to be unusual, visionary and quite controversial and unconventional in style and interpretation. Jarman's body of work is impressive, and breathes with the life of someone who simply must do it film his own way. For me, Jarman has become an acquired taste over the years, but a taste that lingers on the palate and goes down with absolute clarity of digestion. It was not always so!
In 1991, Jarman, and his dear friend, now Academy Award winning actress Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton (Widescreen Edition)) along with many film associates from the BFI (Sally Potter, Terence Davies, Bill Douglas and Peter Greenaway) were revolutionary visionaries in creating art on the screen that has had an impact on many present day filmmakers who wish to be craftsmen and not tradesmen. In that year, Jarman adapted the famous late 1500's Marlowe tragedy on the life, infatuations,and fatal weaknesses and incompetence of the 1300's King Edward 2 of England, and their devastating consequences to his life and country. Marlowe, himself, a complete rebel in his day, who died a violent and bitterly early death in a tavern brawl in 1594, seemed the perfect writer for the similar Jarman to interpret on the large screen....and WHAT AN INTERPRETATION IT IS! Adapting Marlowe's play, which was itself handled with considerable liberty by subordinating historical accuracy to dramatic effect, is vivid and unforgettably stylish and downright in-your-face sexual, as WAS in fact King Edward 2, known for his love for entertainment and squander, and his chronicled loves with at least two men, Piers Gaveston and Hugh Despencer whom he bestowed lavish attention, wealth and titles to such ignobly born fellows, thus igniting the fury of the Catholic Church, the Court Nobility, and his Queen, Isabella. The play is Marlowe's words, but the rendering is all Jarman, as Jarman, who was Gay himself, never shies from presenting Edward (Steven Waddington) as the tortured King, in a most disagreeable alliance/marriage (as was the custom!) with Isabella (Swinton) and his lust, love and adoration for his lover, Gaveston (Andrew Tiernan) and later Despencer (John Lynch). Isabella also has HER lover, Mortimer (Nigel Terry), who along with Isabella seeks to rule the realm through Edward and Isabella's son the young puppet, Edward 3.
Now that is the story, and those are the historical events.....BUT this is a Derek Jarman film, and history is shown to us in a way that is so provocative, from blatant sexual imagery, unconventional costuming that places the play as a commentary on Margaret Thatcher's Conservative late 1980's England, and minimalist scenery, designed by Christopher Hobbs (a great favorite of The British Film Institute) to evoke the barrenness of an Age where Church and Nobility ruled, and where pleasure and desire, though enjoyed to the hilt by all, is attacked and condemned in the form of homosexuality, and used as the excuse for deposing a recklessly viewed Monarch.
Often, I am entranced with historical Period Pieces, but often find that the retelling of said events can be rather dry and unmemorable. Not so with Jarman's film whose sense of injustice at how his own sexuality is eschewed is mesmerizingly transferred to the big screen with imagery that explodes graphically before your eyes. In fact, the imagery was so graphic and innovative that the film lingered in my emotions and not simply in my intellect! Not one ounce of Marlowe's play of lust and betrayal is lost, and IMO, Marlowe's rebel spirit which infuses his work, is best served by Jarman's understanding of Marlowe's intent on explaining the life of the tortured King and Marlowe's intense hatred for the nobility.
This is, too say the least, a film that will be lost on some, and perhaps even disdained. I have come to savour every morsel of this film as a genuine and first-rate work of art, as I have with other of Jarman's well known Derek Jarman 4-DVD Boxset (Blue , Caravaggio , The Angelic Conversation , Edward II) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Italy ] as well as The Last of England, Wittgenstein [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ] and The Garden [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ].
For anyone who craves something new from their movies, try Derek Jarman and other filmmakers such as Terence Davies (The Neon Bible) who, as Knighted Fellows of The British Cinema, sought and still seek to revolutionize and breathe new life and ideas into cinema today!
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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