Edward II

This film is stunning to watch, constantly odd and surprising visually. Verging on expressionistic many times. However, I found the substance of the film somewhat weak. The themes are interesting, how Edward turns his back on power for the sake of the people he loves, Who end up being sacrificed because of it. Mortimer craves power only, and achieves it at a brutal cost. Edward's brother is in the middle, loving both his brother and country. The middle does not hold. Well these themes are interesting the production lacks much new ones in presenting them. I don't know if this is the fault of the play or the director. In general I have found Marlow's plays to be good but not exceptional in the waybid Shakespeare is.

I think a couple of cinema school students have met to create this film, trying to make something "different". It makes a strange mixture of present and past, not 100% convincing. They seems to me more concentrated in the costumes, than in the film itself, it was like a mode parade. Symbology too pretentious.

Tilda Swinton is great, and the Act Up/Gay is good message is great, but what's not so good is the portrayal of Piers and the King. They're obnoxious, rude, and hurtful. It's sad because it seems there are perfectly valid reasons to hate and overthrow them that have nothing to do with heterosexism. Oh, and Annie Lennox is great too, but interrupting the movie for a fawning music video was a strange move.

This beautifully filmed, strangely erotic minor masterwork is Derek Jarman at his best. Dark and brooding, Jarman draws the viewer into the world of medieval England while still being his unusual, original self. Homoerotic without being blatant about its pro-gay leanings, Jarman tells a story of doomed love in a time where certain loves were life threatening.

Definitely Derek Jarman's most refined film. That said, refined for Jarman is bizarre for most. Based VERY loosely on Christopher Marlowe's play from 1592, however, should be view in its own light / right. Whereas it does tend to capture the wonderful Marlow language, this is no "Shakespeare" here! It's a brilliantly acted ensemble piece, set in Jarman's abstract vision of the world, with a core message that is as valid today as it must have been shocking then. Jarman "paints" his film - as he always did - not in any logical manner or order, but like a mosaic of images, creating a whole and a statement - a strong statement about intolerance in this case. This one might even be palatable for non-Jarman fans.

This gay adaptation of Christopher Marlowe play about the passion of the British King Edward II for a plebeian made by Derek Jarman, who died of AIDS in 1994, is very boring and confused. The film was shot on a stage, but the screenplay is very unpleasant and I could not wait for the end of the movie. I was attracted by the names of Tilda Swinton, John Lynch and Annie Lennox, and in the end, only the Lennox singing Cole Porter's "Every Time We Say Goodbye" was worthwhile. The DVD released in Brazil is unbelievably dubbed in Spanish, i.e., a British movie dubbed in Spanish to make it worse. In my opinion, "Edward II" might be mainly recommended for gay and very specific audiences. I had the displeasure of watching this flick on DVD on 27 August 2005. My vote is three. Title (Brazil): "Eduardo II" ("Edward II")

What an exhilarating, entrancing, searing piece of work. Oh, it did cost me a bit to go along with the dialogue so easily, but the whole thing was just fantastic. The ensemble cast seems to be having the time of their lives speaking all of these juicy dramatic lines. Tilda Swinton, especially, manages to go beyond my expectations to deliver an all-time worthy performance. This is what she's best at, this sort of icy, hypnotizing, ethereal role, and she more than delivers. In a film full of wonderful performances, she stands at the very top. The whole thing is just completely and utterly mesmerizing, impossible to look away.