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A Short Biography of Derek Jarman
The pictures on this page were
taken on the day of his canonisation at Dungeness Beach, in Kent, England.
Jarman wrote of this place 'There are no walls or fences. My garden's
boundaries are the horizon... There is more sunlight here than anywhere
in Britain... When a winter storm blows up, cormorants skim the waves"
(beginning of Modern Nature, published by Vintage Books in the UK,
- just the book for the long Autumn evenings (if you're reading this in
the northern hemisphere) or to inspire you to plant your garden (if
you're in the southern hemisphere)).
St. Derek was a gay/queer film maker, set designer
and writer, whose life expressed
a fierce desire for a world where human lives weren't deformed
by homophobia, poverty (including artistic poverty), 'respectability',
and the policing of gender identity. He was
canonised by the Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence shortly before his martyrdom in 1994.
Holy Derek, Pray for us sinners now and in the hour of
our death.
Saint Derek was born on 31st January 1942, son of a
RAF officer of Kiwi extraction.
Derek's progress towards sainthood was at times slow, he only slowly grew to
express his sexuality happily, given the silence, fear and prejudice about
same-sex love that characterised the
'fifties in middle class England. But then the dear, dear 'sixties came along
and he left home, and the frozen ice of his emotional sea found its spring.
Things changed fast and radically. He rejected the social mores of his
upbringing, more notably those of his father (his mum encouraged her
son's 'unconventionality'). He started enjoying life rather
too much for decency. There's a wonderful picture of this period in his
Modern Nature - interspersed
with the most beautiful discussion of
flowers (it's the gay modern equivalent of The
Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady)
- his involvement in films developed slowly, with many difficult periods
when money was hard to come by. Gay related film didn't feature highly on the agenda
of the film industry in those days - the films are wonderful, if not
infrequently angry. The anger of the early films was something he later felt
was perhaps a bit regrettable. Jarman could 'fizz' with saintly, righteous
anger against the illogicalities of a world that had pushed him and the
gay and lesbian tribe, to its edges. His work became, to my mind, yet more
interesting as he got older, with films dealing with religion (a
recurring concern), philosophy and death.
His first feature film was
Sebastiane
1976), with its frank depiction of gay desire, and if you like too much of
things, well it's perfect!, and many wonderful films followed:
Jubilee (1978) - a celebration
(but it's just a bit ironic) of punk culture;
The Tempest (1979) - a wonderful campy retelling
of the story - and just the thing for someone whose world was fused through
the alchemy of film. Lots of lovely sailors as well!!!
Caravaggio
(1986) - the remarkable biopic, with lots about
marginality and homosex;
Last of England
(1987) - dark and bitter with a touch
of William Blake about it, showing all the signs
of a film made in opposition to that leaden weight
on England's chest, Mrs Margaret Thatcher;
The Garden (1990),
- my favourite of all his films, which made
a tremendous impact on me at first viewing,
a sort of life of Jesus for anyone camp, on the edge of religion,
gay, artistic,
marginalised, or curious (see my article 'Doing Queer Theology
in the Garden',
in Theology and Sexuality Spring 1998 on this beloved film, it
might also help you think differently about Theology)
;
Edward II (1991) - a pretty
natural subject given Queer Edward's struggles with a mostly
hostile environment;
Wittgenstein
(1992) - the funniest film about philosophy that
there's ever been;
Blue (1993), which I love 'cos it's got love and life
and death all rolled up into it (and since the screen remains a uniform
blue throughout, you can, I suppose, see it without having a TV and video
- just a cassette player and a piece of card).
I love
all Jarman's books - but if you're just starting, try the charming
and very readable
Modern Nature, or if you're a gay/lesbian activist
you might prefer At Your Own Risk
. For an overview of his work, see
Derek Jarman: a Portrait
published
by Thames and Hudson [1996] (in the UK) ISBN 0 500 01723 9.
(all pictures courtesy of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence)
Allelujah!!!!
Click here
to visit the sisters of perpetual indulgence UK page.