Caravaggio

"His passion came with a price."

1986 1h 33m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 166

DramaHistoryRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.

“His passion came with a price.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Kino Film CollectionSubscription

BFI Player Amazon ChannelSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Nigel Terry
Caravaggio
Sean Bean
Ranuccio
Garry Cooper
Davide
Dexter Fletcher
Young Caravaggio
Spencer Leigh
Jerusaleme
Tilda Swinton
Lena
Nigel Davenport
Giustiniani
Robbie Coltrane
Scipione Borghese

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Derek Jarman
Writers: Derek Jarman
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

40 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Derek Jarman, shot by Gabriel Beristain. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Simon Fisher-Turner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor George Akers shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Nigel Terry and Sean Bean and Garry Cooper carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "His passion came with a price.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0090798 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Derek Jarman directs. Gabriel Beristain behind the camera. Simon Fisher-Turner scores. George Akers cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

140 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
3Directed by Derek Jarman, shot by Gabriel Beristain. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Simon Fisher-Turner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor George Akers shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Nigel Terry and Sean Bean and Garry Cooper carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "His passion came with a price.".
8IMDB entry: tt0090798 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 9 themes, including "italy", "artist", "painter", "biography".

The technical file

Cinematography: Gabriel Beristain
Original score: Simon Fisher-Turner
Editing: George Akers
Production design: Christopher Hobbs
Costume design: Sandy Powell
Makeup / hair: Miri Ben-Schlomo
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Caravaggio (1986)

Awards

Silver Bear

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Derek Jarman

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-08-21
★ 7/10
I knew there had to be a reason why anyone ever cared about Sean Bean. A more wooden actor I think I've never seen, but here his conniving "Ranuccio" is sexy and provocative and put together with Nigel Terry's convincing performance as the eponymous artist and Dexter Fletcher's efforts as the younger, manipulative, Caravaggio, this is a no-holes barred/bared look at debauchery and hedonism in a papal Italy that was way more interested in sex and depravity than it was upholding the values of Christian decency. Indeed, the closer to the throne of St. Peter one gets the more licentious you seem to need to be. That's ideally epitomised by Nigel Davenport's "Giustiniani" and the under-rated Michael Gough as "Cardinal Del Monte" - now, he really does like to say "yes"! Robbie Coltrane doesn't doesn't quite fit the bill as the scheming "Borghese" though, nor does Tilda Swinton's cheated upon "Lena", but they don't really matter so much as this painter decides to abandon the more traditional, idealistic, style of portraiture and actually draw things warts and all - and boy, there are plenty of warts. Sexual fluidity, nudity, very little left to the imagination - and it all amalgamates to create quite a potent and plausible representation of the do as I say not as I do (high) society that prevailed at the time. It's got a few roots in history, but for the most part it can't really be considered much more than a sexually-charged fantasy from Derek Jarman who takes plenty of artistic licence as he uses just about any excuse to get some fit young men naked and writhing about in a not very subtly photographed fashion. The writing isn't the best, the dialogue is a bit dry but this is very much a visual experience that speculates well about just what drove a man capable of creating masterpieces of world renown amidst poverty and lots of lust. I wonder if Caravaggio really was quite this notorious in real life? If not, I doubt he'd be displeased but this colourful example of excess in just about every form. Not for everyone, and probably not for any serious art historians - but as tangentially fact-based soft gay porn, it sort of works!

Production companies