Why did a 1986 film about a Baroque painter feature electric lights and calculators?
In short: Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio is no standard biopic. By blending the 16th-century life of the Italian master with jarring modern anachronisms—like motorbikes and manual typewriters—Jarman created a radical, painterly exploration of art and obsession. It remains a landmark of British cinema that defied expectations and challenged historical conventions.
The 1986 film Caravaggio was the result of an arduous development process that spanned nearly a decade. Derek Jarman first drafted the screenplay in 1978, eventually producing roughly sixteen versions before securing funding from the British Film Institute. During this time, Jarman drew deep parallels between the painter and the Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini, even writing an unproduced screenplay about Pasolini’s death that shared the film's eventual approach. Jarman’s vision was heavily influenced by his own multidisciplinary background; he was an active painter and set designer, and he cast Nigel Terry in the title role specifically for his resemblance to the only known portrait of the artist.
The film’s visual language was meticulously crafted to mirror the painter’s own techniques. Cinematographer Gabriel Beristain and production designer Christopher Hobbs studied the artist’s work, noting that his paintings almost exclusively utilized a light source from the left. They designed the sets at London’s Limehouse Studios to replicate this signature chiaroscuro. To further ground the film in the artist’s spirit, Jarman intentionally included anachronisms—such as car horns, cigarette smoking, and electric lighting—to echo the painter’s own practice of using contemporary figures and dress to depict sacred Biblical subjects.
Upon its release, the film received critical acclaim for its visual confidence, though its structural liberties and deliberate historical inaccuracies divided opinion. While some critics praised it as a landmark work, others felt it lacked emotional vitality or was overly somber. Despite the mixed reception to its narrative, the film’s artistic impact was undeniable; it won the Silver Bear at the 36th Berlin International Film Festival, and the Tate Gallery cited its visual qualities when shortlisting Jarman for the 1986 Turner Prize. It also marked the first feature film role for Tilda Swinton, who would go on to collaborate with Jarman until his death in 1994.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Caravaggio (1986 film)
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