“A modern (dare I say postmodern) masterpiece.”-B. Ruby Rich

“The spirit of (Marlowe's) work lends itself magnificently to Jarman's politics and to the richness of his cultural sensibilities.”-Toronto Film Festival

Jarman's bold version of Christopher Marlowe's four-hundred- year-old play streamlines the plot to four main characters-the doomed King Edward II and his beloved Piers Gaveston, enthralled in an obsessive love affair condemned by nobles and church; and his despairing queen, Isabella (Tilda Swinton channeling Margaret Thatcher, Grace Kelly, and Dracula's daughter), who conspires with the ruthless military man Mortimer to dethrone him. Unfolding in spare, elegant tableaux, Jarman's exploration of tragic love and social control foregrounds a repressed queer history and the play's relevance to contemporary militant struggles against state-supported homophobia.