Derek Jarman – The Garden (1990)
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A powerful experience which delves into territories of madness and transcendence, The Garden is a statement about director Derek Jarman’s anger over the AIDS crisis. Produced by James Mackay (Blue, The Kingdom of Shadows), it is an intellectual, thought-provoking, and visually imagination experience that fans of the filmmaker won’t want to miss. A must-see gem.
A nearly-wordless production without a clear and concise storyline, The Garden is a beautiful visual extravaganza which has underlining themes of great importance. The film explores the idea of good and evil with interpretations of Christ (Roger Cook) and the devil (Pete Lee-Wilson). The film also frequently interjects the Madonna (Tilda Swinton) as a passenger taking flight on the filmmaker’s odyssey. Along the journey, a variety of other characters are interwoven into the fabric of the DNA.
On the surface level, The Garden is a surrealist (and experimental) showcase for Jarman’s talents as a director. As one delves deeper into the labyrinth of the filmmaking, it becomes apparent that the film is largely about exploring Derek Jarman’s frustration with gay prosecution and the harsh realities faced by homosexual men. With many scenes showing men engaged in sexual encounters (including a scene of men giving baths to one another while kissing), the film seems primarily aimed at LGBTQ viewers (but could still be seen and enjoyed by anyone with an open mind).
As there is no concise narrative, Jarman bounces from one concept to another with a jubilant sense of enthusiasm. In addition to the focus on the AIDS crisis, there is a fantastic musical scene (with”Think Pink” as a sort of catchy retro-theme) and essay-like scenes about other societal issues (such as credit card debt: “All of your dreams will come true!”) The film is haunting and nightmarish but it has an undeniably powerful grip that can’t be easily dismissed.
The film has a number of impressive production elements: there is the production design by Derek Brown (Young Soul Rebels) and Christopher Hobbs (Velvet Goldmine) to make the journey more compelling, hypnotic, and disturbing (all at once). Then there’s the costumes designed by Annie Symons (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Saving Grace) to showcase the wide range of ideas explored. The score composed by Simon Fisher-Turner (Claire Dolan, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead) similarly heightens the filmmaking and its fantastical ambitions.
The Garden was filmed using a 8mm camera and as a result it has a decidedly different visual aesthetic than a standard 35mm production displays (or the digital photography of today). The cinematography by Christopher Hughes (The Last of England, Aria) is outstanding with a creative use of color in each scene. There is something remarkable about what is achieved with this production. Truly a outstanding cinematographic experience.
Derek Jarman (Blue, Edward II) is an ambitious filmmaker with a distinctive vision. The film certainly showcases the auteur at his best. Given that the film is largely wordless and has a script that bounces around with the fervor of an extended music-video, it’s surprising that the final result is so effective. Things could have easily gone wrong with a less talented director at the helm. Yet Jarman is a huge talent that is capable of making the journey one that audiences will find worth taking. The film builds to a crescendo while leaving one flabbergasted by what transpires. This is not an easy film to stomach. At the same time, The Garden feels like a deeply personal statement from its filmmaker. It’s quite hard to describe. That’s one of the reasons its so fascinating.
The Garden.1990.576p.BDRip-AVC.ZONE.mkv General Container: Matroska Runtime: 1 h 32 min Size: 2.26 GiB Video Codec: x264 Resolution: 958x576 Aspect ratio: 5:3 Frame rate: 23.976 fps Bit rate: 3 000 kb/s BPP: 0.227 Audio #1: English 2.0ch FLAC @ 504 kb/s
https://nitro.download/view/9CF25F1E2CA389A/The_Garden.1990.576p.BDRip-AVC.ZONE.mkv
Language(s):English
Subtitles:English SDH