Derek Jarman's 1989 'War Requiem' reunites British cinema's enfant
terrible with his muse Tilda Swinton (2008 Oscar® Winner for Michael
Clayton) for a spectacular and moving interpretation of composer Benjamin
Britten's groundbreaking 1961 orchestral masterpiece. Just as Britten
combined the sacred Latin Requiem Mass with the searing unromantic war
poetry of British infantry lieutenant Wilfred Owen, who was tragically
killed in the final week of WWI, Jarman interprets Britten's six movements
in eye-popping and heartbreaking dialogue-free tableaus illustrating war's
infinite futility, sacrifice, and waste.
War Requiem boldly combines archival footage of war's devastation with
Jarman's keen and gifted eye for both the theatrical and the political as
Owen, played by Nathaniel Parker, doggedly struggles to survive on the field
of battle in defense of a cause rendered unjust by the human toll it takes
in the trenches and on the home front. Featuring Sean Bean (The Lord of the
Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, National Treasure) as Owen's star-crossed
German counterpart, and Sir Laurence Olivier in his final screen appearance,
War Requiem is a "violent, horrifying, ultimately inspiring film" that
remains Derek Jarman's definitive, "eloquent, complex, and profoundly
negative statement on war" (Washington Post).
