Derek on AllMovie

Actress Tilda Swinton collaborates with director Isaac Julien on this richly textured tribute to the late British filmmaker Derek Jarman. In 2002, Swinton penned the text entitled "Letter to an Angel" in memory of her deceased friend and collaborator. In this film, that elegiac piece of writing is carefully woven with a previously unseen interview with Jarman to create a highly original biography that doesn't rely on talking-head interviews but instead a dreamlike flow of images and observations. Jarman's old family films flicker across the screen as his parents recount his early life and adolescence, and excerpts from the director's films offer insight into the passion of an artist who flouted convention to create a truly unique body of work.