‘A cinema of small gestures’: Derek Jarman's Super 8 – image, alchemy, individuation

Abstract

The Super-8 films of Derek Jarman (1942–94) are discussed in the light of the artist's involvement with gay politics and his sense of being an outsider. This led him to identify with elements in Jung's psychology, especially his work on alchemy. Jarman's manipulation of Super-8 film images was comparable to an alchemical processing of the material contributing to his personal development – a process that Jung called individuation. The author argues that Jarman's radical approach to filmmaking is not only an active challenge to the assumption of film images as representative of reality but, in the hands of a politically gay filmmaker, also challenges normative assumptions of sexuality.

Keywords:

• Jarman
• Derek
• film
• Super 8 camera
• Jungian psychology
• alchemy
• gay politics

Acknowledgement

This paper was first given as an illustrated talk at the day conference Derek Jarman: Almost Bliss held at Chelsea Space, University of the Arts, London, on 14 February 2014.