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The Last of England

The Last of England

Derek Jarman

  • 1987
  • Great-Britain
  • Drama / Fantasy
  • 1h32mn
  • Original version with French subtitles
  • Color
In this desperate poem, composed of archive footage clips mixed with fiction fragments and fantasy visions in sepia, black and white and old photography colors, with a sarcastic narration, Derek Jarman delivers a unique experimental cinema proposition, like an intimate diary dedicated to an England left in ruins by its rulers, that the Thatcher government continues to defile. The Last of England is a masterly modern apocalyptic work (one thinks of Mick Jackson’s terrible Threads,1984), brimming with fierce anger, made hypnotic by Simon Fisher Turner’s music, with a beauty that leaves a taste of ashes… and that also speaks of a rising fascism that isn’t foreign to us.

Alexis Langlois

I saw The Last of England only once, about ten years ago at the Cinematheque, but in a strange way this film has remained with me ever since.

I remember the movie like a Super8 dream, a political essay, a cinema ritual, where punk images are mixed with baroque music, flags burn, dancers perform amidst riots, and where Jarman shows himself at work. I also remember lots of flames, ruins igniting as if to end an unwanted world. I also remember the face of his loyal friend Tilda Swinton to the sound of Diamanda Galás’s voice.

With Jarman, lyricism is political. That’s why he’s so important to me. I can’t wait to see it again with the L’Étrange audience.

Screenings

08/09 • 17h15 • Screen 100
Screening presented by Alexis Langlois

Credits

  • With : Tilda Swinton, Spencer Leigh, Mark Adley, Gerrard McArthur, Nigel Terry...
  • Screenplay : Derek Jarman
  • Photography : Richard Heslop, Christopher Hughes, Derek Jarman, Cerith Wyn Evans
  • Editing : Peter Cartwright, Angus Cook, John Maybury, Sally Yeadon
  • Music by : Simon Fisher Turner
  • Production : Don Boyd, James Mackay