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Edward II

Play trailer Poster for Edward II 1991 1h 31m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
The gay king of England (Steven Waddington) meets his doom in this update of Christopher Marlowe's play.
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Edward II

Critics Reviews

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Alan Scherstuhl Village Voice 05/01/2018
Jarman's sparely elegant but urgently brazen recasting of Marlowe's tragedy seizes the theme of the historic (and artistic) vilification of homosexuality. Go to Full Review
Carson Timar ClapperCast Jun 1
Absolutely breathtaking how tender and radical this film is. Go to Full Review
Michael Bronski Gay Community News (Boston) 08/30/2022
Edward II has the boldness and the intellectual and emotional vigor we have learned to expect from Derek Jarman... almost frenzied impassioned dedication to its vision that makes it more than memorable, it burns itself into our consciousness. Go to Full Review
David Bax Battleship Pretension 10/31/2018
Edward II is a fierce and passionate work of art, as timeless as it is of its time. Go to Full Review
Don Willmott Filmcritic.com 06/21/2005
4/5
impossible to forget Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 06/14/2005
3/5
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Audience Reviews

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PridePosterStudios 09/20/2023 Boring…but 1.5 stars for Annie Lennox See more 04/05/2020 Visually appealing, but a bit hard to follow. Filled with Jarman's typical juxtapositions. See more 10/07/2019 Had to watch this to accompany the play for a class. The play itself was kind of choppy and in the movie, it was even more noticeable. A lot of artistic choices were made (IE the BDSM while Mortimer made monologues, or how the play started with two gay lovers behind Gaveston as he talked) and i found these unneeded. The actors were pretty obviously not into each other, if you're going to do gay, do it right. Little pecks and kisses that looked like the men both wanted as little contact as possible took away from the play because Edward is supposed to be madly in love with Gaveston and it was just not shown on screen. The awkward dancing scene with the singer and Edward/Gaveston looking at her as if she was an actual character was odd and another unnecessary artistic choice. overall, I didn't like it. I can see that they made an effort to modernize an old play, but it was a miss for me. dont even get me started on Gaveston crouching on the throne clicking while naked See more 02/15/2019 The look was spar and stylish. Tilda looked gorgeous and feminine. Edward and Gaveston looked so alike that until they spoke, I wasn't sure who was who. Deliberate? A reference to narcissism or self-absorption. See more 08/17/2015 Utilizing a relatively straightforward plot to comment on the systemic reaches of homophobia while dropping references to various aspects of gay existence, Jarman elevates what could've been a rote, stuffy period piece through gorgeous visuals and daring staging. Sure, Edward II mostly operates as a progressive rallying cry for gay acceptance, but it's also very much a compelling, historical/contemporary aristocratic drama who's slightly campy tone and attention to detail (the clothing specifically; Swinton's collection of designer outfits is unreal) make it legitimately fun to watch. See more 05/22/2015 Derek Jarman's finest hour is also one of the seminal Queer Film Theory films of its era. See more Read all reviews
Edward II

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis The gay king of England (Steven Waddington) meets his doom in this update of Christopher Marlowe's play.
Director
Derek Jarman
Producer
Steve Clark-Hall, Antony Root
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 12, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.7K
Runtime
1h 31m
Sound Mix
Dolby, Surround
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