The Last of England - Lost Utopias

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Movie
German title The Last of England - Lost Utopias
Original title The Last of England
Country of production Great Britain
original language English
Publishing year 1987
length 87 minutes
Age rating FSK unchecked
Rod
Director Derek Jarman
script Derek Jarman
production James Mackay
Don Boyd
music Simon Fisher Turner
Andy Gill
Marianne Faithfull
Mayo Thompson
Diamanda Galás
Barry Adamson
Al Tito
Albert Oehoen
camera Richard Heslop
Derek Jarman
Christopher Hughes
Cerith Wyn Evans
cut Sally Yeadon
Peter Cartwright
Angus Cook
John Maybury
occupation

The Last of England is a 1987 British film .

Content and form

The film is named after the painting of the same name by the Pre-Raphaelite Ford Madox Brown . With the experimental work, Derek Jarman expressed his personal view of the situation in Great Britain in the mid- 1980s . The film describes the decline of English culture and also reflects events in Jarman's own life.

The film does not have a continuous storyline, but rather consists of a sequence of independent scenes that are essentially only linked by their visual language. Jarman himself compared the film to a book in which there are new twists every time you turn the page and no traditional story is told. The film constantly switches between black and white and color shots. Jarman also keeps adding very short film segments from private family scenes that his father and grandfather made.

The opening scene consists of alternating shots of Jarman himself, who is writing in his diary, and a young man Spring, whose real name is Mark Adley. Spring injects drugs first, then trudges away through a backyard. During these first takes, Nigel Terry starts speaking from the off. Then Spring is shown having sex with a life-size replica of Caravaggio's painting Amor Vincit Omnia . Another scene in the film shows a masked man in a black uniform and another young man having sex on the Union Jack .

The film ends with the grotesque depiction of a wedding: the bride (played by Tilda Swinton ) and groom are on their way to the wedding through a derelict warehouse. The two are accompanied by a group of bearded men in dresses and wigs. A child lies in a pram that is covered with newspapers - on top is the cover picture of the Sun from 1982 with a headline about the Falklands War - instead of a blanket. We already know from earlier short scenes in the film that the groom is shot by a group of black uniforms. Eventually the bride tries to tear off her dress and cut it, and she begins to dance.

Filming

The film was shot on Super 8 film for both economic and aesthetic reasons. The film was only copied to 35 mm after completion . There was no formal script. The actors were friends or lovers of Jarman whom he invited without a casting to work on the project. Almost all of the shoots took place in London and Liverpool without much advance planning .

Film music

As in almost all of Jarman's films, music plays a central role in The Last of England , which was composed by Simon Fisher Turner , who also designed Jarman's Caravaggio , The Garden , Edward II and Blue . Jarman also used pieces by other musicians.

The soundtrack was also released on CD in 1987 by Mute Records :

  • Simon Turner Tonala (2:22)
  • Simon Turner Autumn Leaf (3:27)
  • Simon Turner Sketches of Luxembourg (1:24)
  • Simon Turner The Last of England (2:24)
  • Simon Turner Fina (1:41)
  • Simon Turner Persistence of Memory (3:02)
  • Simon Turner The Bridge (2:49)
  • Simon Turner Hymn for Thatcher (7:04)
  • Mayo Thompson / Albert Oehlen / Tilda Swinton Disco Death (3:25)
  • Brian Gulland Springback (1:04)
  • Barry Adamson Refugee Theme (15 Rounds) (4:41)
  • Andy Gill In the Free World (4:47)
  • Simon Turner Intro (00:20)
  • Diamanda Galas The Thirteen Returns (5:03)
  • Diamanda Galas Deliver Me (7:20)
  • Simon Turner The Day After Tomorrow (2:16)
  • Simon Turner Imprisoned Memories (1:44)
  • Simon Turner Jets "/" The Dead Sea (5:54)
  • Mayo Thompson / El Tito / Simon Turner Broadway Boy (1:26)
  • John Dent / Simon Turner The National Grid (1:23)

Reviews

“Derek Jarman combines social and private memories, fragments of his family history, documentary recordings of a changing London, little stories and gimmicks into a cinematic essay about post-industrial England. Especially in view of the Victorian past, the loss of values ​​and the increasing urbanization of society become visible. Mostly shot on Super 8 material, which was blown up to cinema format after being transferred to video, the result was an oppressive experimental film full of unusual cinematic effects. OmdU "

Companion book

While filming, Jarman kept a diary that was published in England in 1987 under the title Kicking the Pricks . In it, Jarman describes his motives that led him to The Last of England , but also his frustration at finding sponsors for his project and the unwillingness of British television companies to cooperate. In addition, the book deals with topics that are only indirectly related to the film; about his childhood, his sexuality, his earlier work as a painter and designer and the relationship with his father.

In Kicking the Pricks, Jarman also goes into the choice of the film title. His first working title, which he retained throughout the filming, was The Dead Sea . It was only in the course of post-production that Jarman finally changed the title to The Last of England .

Awards

Berlin International Film Festival 1988

Los Angeles Film Critics Association

  • Award for best experimental / independent film

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Last of England - Lost Utopias. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ The Advocate findarticles.com (English)