Caravaggio

Marrying a painterly aesthetic with a defiantly homosexual sensibility, this ironic biopic is probably the most accessible film of avant-garde British director Derek Jarman (LAST OF ENGLAND, EDWARD II). A fanciful reconstruction of the life of the late Rennaisance master (about which almost nothing is known), CARAVAGGIO dramatizes the painter's need for patronage, his religious beliefs, and his sexuality. Noting Caravaggio's unusually muscle-bound depictions of St. John, Jarman posits a sexual relationship between the painter (Nigel Terry) and Ranuccio Thomasoni (Sean Bean), a street thug who served as his model; Ranuccio's mistress (Tilda Swinton) stands in for Ma...