Introduced by Humphrey Burton
Images in the work of John Donne (1572-1631)
Starring Richard Pasco as Donne
The Age of King James I - courtly, extravagant, cruel. John Donne, poet, wit and notorious lover of women has become the most celebrated preacher of his day, a star performer. But even as he confesses publicly to the sins of his youth, the images in his sermons consistently refer back to his poetry, some of the greatest celebrations of erotic love in the English language.
In this film the church itself becomes the setting for a series of memories from Donne's past which, he confesses, haunt him as he prays... 'A memory of yesterday's pleasures... an anything, a nothing, a fancy, a chimera in my brain.'
Film cameraman JOHN HOOPER Film editor PAUL HUMFRESS
Executive producer MIKE WOOLLER Director LESLIE MEGAHEY
(Richard Pasco is an Associate Member of the Royal Shakespeare Company) Preview: page 15