Edward II

The fourteenth-century life of King Edward II collides with the heightened political context of Thatcher-era Britain in Derek Jarman’s adaption of the Christopher Marlowe play Edward II. Jarman draws the homosexual subtext of Marlowe’s play to the surface in his film, which is often counted as a key work among the wave of ‘new queer cinema’ that emerged in the early 1990s.

The film reimagines the tragic story of the titular king (Steven Waddington) who, driven by passion and pleasure, is distracted from both his wife and the business of reigning England by his lover, Piers Gaveston (Andrew Tiernan). Desperate for affection, and then burning with rejection, Queen Isabella (Tilda Swinton) begins to plot against her husband, leading to rebellion, torture, and violence.

Strikingly anachronistic, Jarman’s adaption of Marlowe’s play features corporate suit-wearing courtiers, a walkman, Tilda Swinton carrying an Hermes bag, and Annie Lennox singing Cole Porter. Earlier in his career Jarman, a painter turned filmmaker, had been the production designer on Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971), and like that film, Edward II is relentlessly provocative, political, and visually striking, featuring stark, highly stylised sets and intense Caravaggio-esque lighting (Jarman had directed Caravaggio five years earlier).

Marlowe’s play was written two centuries after the life and death of Edward II and Jarman similarly takes up the invitation to reinvent the story from the perspective of the present. In Jarman’s hands, Marlowe’s play is a vehicle to tear into the climate of homophobia in 1980-90s Britain, as the devastating AIDS epidemic was met with fear, oppression, and government mismanagement. Members of the gay activist group OutRage even feature in one scene in Edward II, unmistakably drawing together the film’s parallel narratives. Jarman died just three years later, in 1994, from AIDS-related illness, and among the films that make up his legacy Edward II has variously been described as his most accessible film, his most accomplished film, and his most political film.

“Jarman’s sparely elegant but urgently brazen recasting of Marlowe’s tragedy seizes the theme of the historic (and artistic) vilification of homosexuality.” – Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice

Wellington Film Society is delighted to present this screening in partnership with City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi, to celebrate their exhibition Derek Jarman: Delphinium Days, which will be on show at The Dowse Art Museum from 28 September 2024.