Derek Jarman

This pioneering study of Jarman explores the life and work of a complex and enigmatic man with many talents: director, painter, designer, chronicler of English history, radical gay activist, student of mystical thought and celebrated gardener. What emerges is a compelling portrait of a major artist who, like a latter-day William Blake, was patriotic and steeped in English life but acutely aware of the reality of social injustice and prejudice - especially in 80s Britain - which he cogently and angrily depicted in his films.