Derek Jarman's Medieval Modern

Medievalism #14

by Robert Mills

The artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman (1942-1994) had a lifelong appreciation of medieval culture. But with the possible exception of Edward II , Jarman's films have not been identified to dateas making a major contribution to the depiction of the Middle Ages in cinema.
This book is the first to uncover a rich seam of medievalism in Jarman's art. Taking in major features such as Caravaggio, The Garden and The Last of England , as well as some of the unrealised screenplays and short experimental films, the book proposes an expanded definition of medieval film that includes not just works set in or about the Middle Ages, but also projects inspired more broadly by the period. It considers Jarman's engagement with Anglo-Saxon poetry (notably The Wanderer ); withworks by fourteenth-century poets such as Chaucer, Dante and Langland; with saints and mystics from Joan of Arc to Julian of Norwich; and with numerous paintings, buildings and objects from this so-called "middle" time.
Organised around several key themes - periodisation, anachronism, ruins and wandering - the book also asks what happens when (with Jarman, but also more broadly) we think thecategories "medieval" and "modern" together. As such, it will be of interest to film scholars, art historians and medievalists of all stripes who wish to rattle the temporal cages of their fields.

Robert Mills is Professor of Medieval Studies at University College London.

286 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 10, 2018

About the author

Robert Laurence Mills (April 15, 1927 – October 27, 1999) was a physicist, specializing in quantum field theory, the theory of alloys, and many-body theory. While sharing an office at Brookhaven National Laboratory, in 1954, Chen Ning Yang and Mills proposed a tensor equation for what are now called Yang–Mills fields. This equation reduces to Maxwell's equations as a special case.

Reviews

[Larry-bob Roberts]

Interesting exploration of Medieval themes in Derek Jarman’s films. Very accessible and not swamped in academic jargon. There’s an acceptance of the anachronism in Derek Jarman’s films (and sometimes people call out things that actually aren’t anachronistic.) Even Medieval art had its own anachronisms such as people in religious paintings in then-contemporary garb.
Sections are Derek Jarman’s Gets Medieval, Always Contemporary, a Life in Ruins, and The Wandering Jarman (an exploration of themes such as pilgrims and the wandering Jew.) There is also comparison to other films with Medieval themes such as Pasolini, Dreyer, Ken Russell (whom Jarman worked with) and Bergman. Beautiful production including color plates.

I checked it out from the SF Public Library.

[Jude Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Combination of two of my favourite topics (Derek Jarman, medieval art) so was a delectable read that made many compelling arguments and interpretations I broadly agree with. There were a couple avenues - namely the underlying mystical, contemplative ethics of “Blue” and Jarman’s implicit conjuring of a type of affective meditation - that I wish had been explored too, but overall a brilliant monographic read.