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John Maybury

John Maybury

Directing

Biography

John Maybury (born 25 March 1958) is an English filmmaker and artist. He first came to prominence as the director of the music video for the Pet Shop Boys 1984 single "West End Girls". In 2005 he was named as one of the 100 most influential gay and lesbian people in Britain. During the 1980s, Maybury produced a number of short films and music videos including for Sinéad O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U", which was voted #35 in a Channel 4 poll of the greatest pop music videos and received various awards, and "West End Girls" by the Pet Shop Boys, a defining 1980s video. In 1998, Maybury produced his first full-length feature Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon, a biopic on the life of painter Francis Bacon starring Derek Jacobi and Daniel Craig. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. In 2005, he directed The Jacket with Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley. In 2008 his film The Edge of Love, a biopic on the life of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas starring Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy, Matthew Rhys and Keira Knightley premiered. He also directed the final episode of the HBO/BBC Rome series.

Known For

Rome
8.2

A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.

Rome

2005
The Borgias
7.6

Set in 15th century Italy at the height of the Renaissance, The Borgias chronicles the corrupt rise of patriarch Rodrigo Borgia to the papacy, where he proceeds to commit every sin in the book to amass and retain power, influence and enormous wealth for himself and his family.

The Borgias

2011
Marco Polo
7.4

Set in a world of greed, betrayal, sexual intrigue and rivalry, this lavish drama series follows explorer Marco Polo's adventures in the 13th century.

Marco Polo

2014
ScreenPlay
6.0

Screenplay was a drama anthology television series, broadcast on BBC between 1986 and 1993. Numerous episodes were produced including one named "Boswell and Johnson's Tour of the Western Islands" starring Robbie Coltrane as English writer Samuel Johnson who in the autumn of 1773, visits the Hebrides off the north-west coast of Scotland. That episode was directed by John Byrne and co-starred John Sessions and Celia Imrie.

ScreenPlay

1986
Dates
6.7

Dates is a British television romantic drama series created by Bryan Elsley, who also created Skins, which first aired on Channel 4 on 10 June 2013, at 22:00, as part of its "Mating Season" programming, illustrating a series of first dates between online dating service users. The show's target audience is "ABC1".

Dates

2013
The Jacket
6.9

A military veteran goes on a journey into the future, where he can foresee his death and is left with questions that could save his life and those he loves.

The Jacket

2005
Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
6.0

In the 1960s, British painter Francis Bacon surprises a burglar and invites him to share his bed. The burglar, a working class man named George Dyer, accepts. After the unique beginning to their love affair, the well-connected and volatile artist assimilates Dyer into his circle of eccentric friends, as Dyer's struggle with addiction strains their bond.

Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon

1998
The Edge of Love
6.2

When the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his flirtatious wife Caitlin sweep into war-torn London, the last thing they expect is to bump into Dylan's childhood sweetheart Vera. Despite her joy at seeing Dylan after so many years, Vera is swept off her feet by a dashing officer, William Killick, and finds herself torn between the open adoration of her new found beau and the wily charms of the exotic Welshman.

The Edge of Love

2008
Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter
N/A

This music special is dedicated to dispelling the prejudices associated with the HIV infection and raising money for AIDS research and relief. Some of today's most celebrated recording artists performing their interpretations of the classic songs of Cole Porter.

Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter

1990
Remembrance of Things Fast: True Stories Visual Lies
4.0

Remembrance of Things Fast represents the culmination of Maybury's work in video, which has developed alongside the technology itself. Starring Tilda Swinton and Rupert Everett in lead roles, the tape confronts the conventions of world television and satellite broadcast, drawing on the fragmentary nature of the medium and the cliches of the three minute attention span. At the same time, it replaces bland mainstream images with darker, more satirical observations and studies. The environment is surreal, a virtual reality television land of landscapes and imaginary cities, enhanced by Marvin Black's dark, dense soundtrack. It is a cyberspace where the impossible is all too possible. Within this parallel world, a series of archetypes act, observe and comment, informed by a strong sexual sensibility. '..a mesmerising, sometimes hysterically funny, cinematic bricolage with a strong sexual and mostly gay sensibility'. - Cordelia Swann

Remembrance of Things Fast: True Stories Visual Lies

1994
Nothing Compares
7.7

Since the beginning of her career, Sinéad O’Connor has used her powerful voice to challenge the narratives she was surrounded by while growing up in predominantly Roman Catholic Ireland. Despite her agency, depth and perspective, O’Connor’s unflinching refusal to conform means that she has often been patronized and unfairly dismissed as an attention-seeking pop star.

Nothing Compares

2022
Cyndi Lauper: 12 Deadly Cyns... and Then Some
8.5

Cyndi Lauper tours a theme park, meeting strange characters and remembering her past. The film is also illustrated by a collection of Cyndi's pop videos, like "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" and "Sally's Pigeons".

Cyndi Lauper: 12 Deadly Cyns... and Then Some

1994
The Last of England
6.0

The artist's personal commentary on the decline of his country in a language closer to poetry than prose. A dark meditation on London under Thatcher.

The Last of England

1987
Sinéad O'Connor: The Value of Ignorance
7.5

Live recording of Sinéad O'Connor's concert at the Dominion Theatre in London, on June 3, 1988, in support of her debut album "The Lion and the Cobra" (performed in its entirety except for two songs).

Sinéad O'Connor: The Value of Ignorance

1989
Tramps!
8.0

Goes deep into the heart of Britain’s New Romantics scene, tracing how a group of outsiders transformed London's underground art and music communities and its enduring influence and impact across the globe. A decade in the making, this groundbreaking film follows how the New Romantics – AKA the Blitz Kids – became one of the most iconic cultural movements.

Tramps!

2023
The Queen Is Dead
N/A

Three promotional films by The Smiths directed with an artistic and conceptual vision by the late director Derek Jarman. The result is the junction of the powerful lyrics and melodies by Morrissey and Marr combined with Jarman's expressive images. The music videos: 1) The Queen Is Dead 2) There Is a Light That Never Goes Out 3) Panic

The Queen Is Dead

2024
The Alternative Miss World
5.0

A filmed record of the 1978 "Alternative Miss World" beauty pageant held in a circus tent on Clapham Common in South London.

The Alternative Miss World

1980
Waiting for Waiting for Godot
10.0

Abstract images of figures moving about a room. Filmed from a video monitor in Super 8 during a rehearsal of a RADA production of Beckett's "Waiting for Godot".

Waiting for Waiting for Godot

1982
The Dream Machine
4.4

A 16mm anthology of experimental super 8 films by Derek Jarman, Michael Kostiff, Cerith Wyn Evans and John Maybury, with framing footage by Tim Burke of Brion Gysin using a dream machine. Jarman's contribution is a version of his 1977 Art and the Pose (aka Arty the Pose), refilmed at 3fps, with a musical soundtrack. Jarman planned The Dream Machine as a commemoration of William Burroughs and Gysin's 1982 visit to the UK, and received initial funding from the Arts Council in 1983, then rethought the project as a portmanteau film featuring Gysin alone. The production remained in limbo until 1986, when James Mackay obtained completion funding from the British Film Institute. (Since this film was released on VHS accompanied by Jarman's Broken English: Three Songs by Marianne Faithfull, T.G.: Psychic Rally in Heaven and Pirate Tape under the umbrella title The Dream Machine, synopses of this film have often muddled up its details with those of the earlier films. )

The Dream Machine

1986
Derek Jarman: A Portrait
N/A

A BBC Arena profile of the Director from the time of the release of his film, The Garden, featuring interviews with Jarman, his collaborators and friends.

Derek Jarman: A Portrait

1991