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Edward II

Edward II

History · Romance · Drama · 1991

England, 14th century. King Edward II falls in love with Piers Gaveston, a young man of humble origins, whom he honors with favors and titles of nobility. The cold and jealous Queen Isabella conspires with the evil Mortimer to get rid of Gaveston, overthrow her husband and take power…

Movie details

Edward II

“A classic tale of sex, revenge, and love”

1991 History · Romance · Drama 1h 30m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

England, 14th century. King Edward II falls in love with Piers Gaveston, a young man of humble origins, whom he honors with favors and titles of nobility. The cold and jealous Queen Isabella conspires with the evil Mortimer to get rid of Gaveston, overthrow her husband and take power…

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Edward II?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Derek Jarman

Written by

Derek Jarman · Stephen McBride · Ken Butler

Steven Waddington

Steven Waddington

Edward II

Andrew Tiernan

Andrew Tiernan

Piers Gaveston

Tilda Swinton

Tilda Swinton

Isabella

Nigel Terry

Nigel Terry

Roger Mortimer

John Lynch

John Lynch

Spencer

Dudley Sutton

Dudley Sutton

Bishop of Winchester

Jerome Flynn

Jerome Flynn

Kent

Court is in session

Put Edward II on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.