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.