The Angelic Conversation
6.1
The Angelic Conversation is a lyrical, haunting film about a young man’s search for love in a dreamlike landscape. Its tone is set by the juxtaposition of slow moving homo-erotic images and opaque landscapes through which two men take a journey into their own desires. Offscreen, Dame Judi Dench recites a sequence of Shakespeare's sonnets that counterpoint the action. Jarman called it, “My most austere work, but also the closest to my heart.”
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Cast
12 people
Judi Dench
(voice)
Known for
Skyfall
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Paul Reynolds
Philip Williamson
Dave Baby
Also in
Broken English: Three Songs by Marianne Faithfull
Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
Timothy Burke
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Cast in Gray
Being Michael Madsen
Simon Costin
Christopher Hobbs
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In the Shadow of the Sun
Sebastiane
Philip MacDonald
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Knots Landing
Toby Mott
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Imagining October
Shortcut
Steve Randall
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Sixpack Annie
Robert Sharp
Tony Wood
Derek Jarman Director · William Shakespeare Author Peter Christopherson Composer
First release February 15, 1985 · Produced in United Kingdom · Production Channel 4 Television, British Film Institute
Production
BFI
Production
Channel 4 Television
Production
British Film Institute
Production
United Kingdom
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
English
Release dates
Germany · February 15, 1985
Premiere · Berlin International Film Festival
No release date listed for United States.
Ireland
August 14, 2025 · Limited theatrical · Irish Museum of Modern Art
Italy
January 7, 2004 · Physical · DVD
Japan
February 28, 1987 · Theatrical
Poland
July 28, 2016 · Limited theatrical · New Horizons Film Festival
Taiwan
November 13, 2016 · Limited theatrical · Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
May 28, 2026 · Premiere · Taipei Literature Festival
United Kingdom
August 1, 1985 · Premiere · Edinburgh Film Festival
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Some details come from TheTVDB.