Caravaggio (E1) – If you're going to make a 3-1/2 hour epic on one of the greatest post-Renaissance Italian painters, then you need one of the best cinematographers to do his life and art visual justice. And Angelo Longoni's bio of Caravaggio has him in spades in Oscar winner Vittorio Storaro, whose artistry jumps out of every frame of the film, splendidly plunging us into the violence of the early 17th century without ever slavishly imitating Caravaggio's impassioned paintings filled with dark corners and shadowy figures. Alesso Boni vigorously enacts the artist and Longoni keeps standard-biopic cliches to a minimum, holding our interest until the tragic end, but it's Storaro's magic that's most on display. Unlike Derek Jarman's Caravaggio, this version is not dripping with homoeroticism—Boni's painter has an eye for the ladies—so it's anyone's guess which is closer to the historical truth. Somewhere in the middle, I'd wager. E1's disc has no bonus features, but just getting to see the entire film (a shorter version played in Manhattan a couple of years back) is bonus enough.
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