Isaac Julien, noted English filmmaker and peer of the late Derek Jarman, takes a brief, punchy look at “Derek,” with the orotund assistance of Tilda Swinton, who wrote her own narration of the man who began her career. Jarman was a man of many artistic endeavors, and his early, impressionistic, no-fi movies, often originating on Super 8mm, cast the lustrous, androgynous Swinton as an almost otherworldly presence. She returns the favor with her own mythologizing of his life as artist and muse to the arts and assertive activist. It’s more of a telling snapshot than a full-on biography, but there is a good book of his life as well as his own intriguing published diaries for that. 76m. (Ray Pride)
Related Stories
Heart: A Review of Soul The real world is soulful, too, in Pixar's bountiful life of the mind.
Seeing The Elephant: A Review Of Babylon The boisterous, brawling yet melancholy "Babylon," is a variation on film history, but more drawing for drama. It's gaudy and mean, celebratory and sorrowful.
Heart of Darkness: A Review of The Batman The three-hour film noir unfolds briskly, an intensive study in the pervasive interplay of power, money and corruption in what seems like perpetual rainy night.
Uncanny Ally: A Review Of M3GAN "M3GAN" sells itself in its first handful of seconds in how it introduces the handiwork of roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams, "Get Out") and her present product, PurrPetual Petz from Funki.
