''The Angelic Conversation'' is a 1985
arthouse
An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Derek Jarman
Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist.
Biography
Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...
. Its tone is set by the juxtaposition of slow moving photographic images and
Shakespeare's sonnets read by
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...
. The film consists primarily of homoerotic images and opaque landscapes through which two men take a journey into their own desires.
Jarman himself described the film as "a dream world, a world of magic and ritual, yet there are images there of the burning cars and radar systems, which remind you there is a price to be paid in order to gain this dream in the face of a world of violence."
[Jarman, Derek (1997). ''Kicking the pricks''. ]
The soundtrack to the film was composed and performed by
Coil, and it was released as an
album of the same name. In 2008
Peter Christopherson of Coil (with
David Tibet
David Tibet (born David Michael Bunting; 5 March 1960) is a British poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member.
He was given the name "Tibet" by Genesis P-Orridge, and in January 2005 he ...
,
Othon Mataragas and
Ernesto Tomasini
Ernesto Tomasini (born 15 May 1968, in Palermo, Italy) is an Italian actor/singer/writer living in Britain. Best known for his more recent forays into contemporary music, he has also had a 35-year career on the stage.
Early Performances
Tomasini ...
) performed a new live soundtrack to the movie during a special screening at the Turin Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.
The film's music track also includes
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
's "Sea Interludes" from ''
Peter Grimes
''Peter Grimes'', Op. 33, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Montagu Slater based on the section "Peter Grimes", in George Crabbe's long narrative poem '' The Borough''. The "borough" of the opera is a fictional ...
'', performed by The Chorus and Orchestra of The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, conducted by
Colin Davis.
Shakespeare's sonnets
14 sonnets the film features are:
DVD release
The
BFI
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
have released The Angelic Conversation on DVD.
Cast
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Angelic Conversation, The
1985 LGBT-related films
1985 films
British drama films
1985 drama films
1980s avant-garde and experimental films
British avant-garde and experimental films
Films directed by Derek Jarman
British LGBT-related films
LGBT-related drama films
Gay-related films
1980s English-language films
1980s British films