Another incredibly (and lamentably) timely film is Theo Rollason’s wholly enveloping documentary, Queer Edward II, which is impressively culled together mostly from never-before-seen footage shot by cameraman Seamus McGarvey on the set of Derek Jarman’s seminal film, Edward II in 1990 and 1991!
The director had initially hoped to find enough material (that was sitting a cupboard for over three decades) for a short film. What he found was, “a comprehensive record of Jarman’s idiosyncratic filmmaking practice, capturing everything from rehearsals to intimate conversations to production office dramas.”
One of the most extraordinary aspects of the project is how the clips show a fierce activist director and his cast and crew diving head-first into a combative UK political climate when it came to gay rights. “Hearts must be changed as well as legislation,” Jarman stated.
Jarman got his start in film in the early 1970s when the great (and also idiosyncratic) Ken Russell asked him to design the sets for his controversial film, The Devils (which has finally been restored after it was censored when it was first released and will be in theaters this October). Jarman had no real interest in filmmaking but that changed after he worked with Russell.
He went on to court his own controversy when he made his narrative directorial debut with Sebastiane in 1976, one of the first British movies to feature positive, and explicit, images of gay intimacy. He ran into censorship issues because an erect penis was visible.
Jarman was an openly gay filmmaker at a time when that was verboten. He was also quite outspoken and publicly revealed his own HIV positive status, when he was advised not to. Sadly, he died of AIDS in 1994.
Rollason’s doc is centered on the iconic indie filmmaker and his technique, his politics and his steadfast crusade against a homophobic government and climate.
Edward II was a subversive take on Christopher Marlowe’s play, which is about the reign of the English king and the anger against his relationship with Piers Gaveston, by the homophobic establishment. The highly stylized, deliberately anachronistic film depicts Edward’s army as queer rights protesters.
The ensemble includes Steven Waddington, Andrew Tiernan, Tilda Swinton, Nigel Terry and Annie Lennox.
While they were filming, members of the radical group OutRage!, who were extras on the movie, invaded a recording session by the hugely successful recording artist Cliff Richard, demanding he come out. The next day the British press was all over the story and there was a worry that filming would have to stop and that the producers might be sued.
This stirring sequence in the doc allows the audience to meditate on outing, pros and cons, especially when the person being outed votes for anti-gay legislation or speaks out against LGBTQ people.
At a time when queer people are under attack all over the world, Queer Edward II is a powerful reminder of the importance of speaking out against oppression, ignorance and hatred. It’s also proof that everything old is, disappointingly, new again.
Derek Jarman is a queer hero, and this film pays him a much-deserved tribute and reminds all of us to remain vocal and outraged!
Queer Edward II is showing Out of Competition at the Venice Film Festival.
