MUBI

With Shakespeare’s play already forming firm foundations for the film’s substance, Jarman decides to take it up several notches by pitching an almost psychedelic angle to the text. Rather than a straightforward interpretation, he heavily emphasises the play’s isolated, mythical setting, its motley assortment of characters and all the idiosyncrasies therein, thus forming the crux of the narrative. The stylistic treatment on top of that proves to be fitting, with the final palette reminiscent of Britpunk cinema (à la Quadrophenia or The Wall) in its heavy atmosphere, predating Liquid Sky in its propensity for offbeat decadence, even pre-Lynch (Eraserhead, Fire Walk with Me, Mulholland Drive et al) in its hallucinatory visuals. In summum, Jarman confidently reinvents the Bard towards his subversive and avant-garde sensibilities, all the while with the original story somehow, miraculously remaining recognisable. Simply a lusciously surreal and sensual trip of a performance.