The Angelic Conversation
Channel 4 (1985)
Drama, Queer Themes/Interest, Romance
In Collection
#1081
5*
Seen ItYes
(8/7/2017 Home - multiple times)
8030645480242
IMDB   6.2
78 mins UK / English
DVD  Region 1, Region 2
Judi Dench Narrator
Dave Baby
Timothy Burke
Simon Costin
Christopher Hobbs
Philip McDonald
Toby Mott
Steve Randall
Robert Sharp
Tony Wood
Paul Reynolds
Phillip Williamson
Judi Dench Shakespeare's Sonnets read by
Director/Choreographer
Derek Jarman
Producer James Mackay
Writer/Composer William Shakespeare
Cinematography Derek Jarman
James Mackay
Music Coil
John Balance
Peter Christopherson
Stephen Thrower


The Angelic Conversation is a lyrical, haunting film about a young man’s search for love, in a dreamlike landscape. Offscreen, Dame Judi Dench recites a sequence of Shakespeare sonnets, that counterpoint the action. Jarman called it, “My most austere work, but also the closest to my heart.”
Edition Details
Edition Dolman Films (Italian)
Subtitles Italian
No. of Discs/Tapes 1
Personal Details
Purchase Date 7/27/2017
Location Personal Library
Owner Deitz
Store Amazon Marketplace (DeeVeeDee LLC)
Purchase Price $22.98
Condition New
Links + Review Jim Clark (Must Read)
‡ Full Text of Sonnets
+ Review: The Gay Celluloid
+ Review: British Film Institute (BFI)
‡ Article: Wikipedia
‡ BFI Trailer
* Full Movie: Fandor $
The Angelic Conversation at Core for Movies
TheMovieDb.org
IMDB
References
Streaming, VoD Fandor $

Notes
While I am a Derek Jarman fan, The Angelic Conversation is my least favorite of his feature length films· I have watched it several times both using my personal dvd and streaming on Fandor. There is not just one thing (which I often would minimize its importance), but a collection of issues (often very personal)· The concept of using the Shakespeare love sonnets as the arch of the film is beautiful; unfortunately Shakespearian spoken language is difficult for me to understand and English subtitles were not available-the problems is not with Judi Dench's near perfect timbre or diction, though· I suggest downloading the text of the sonnets available in the links section· Even with the text in front of me, Jarman's images often seemed disconnected from the words· Jarman seems to find little joy in love or love-making· Phillip Williamson and Paul Reynolds are mostly expressionless· They remind me of high-fashion models with their pouty faces· Even when one of them is frolicking in the water, he does not seem to be having fun-instead he is just going through a series of poses for the cameraman· Jarman's use of slow motion stop photographic techniques is interesting at first, but not too far into the film begins to grow annoying, and by its end gave me a headache· Finally, while I usually am appreciative of "modern" music, Coil's music for Angelic Conversation often seemed disconnected from both the poetry of the images and spoken word·

While a "color" film, it is mostly of sepia or other color monochrome with occasional flashes of color.