The Garden
Artificial Eye (1990)
Drama, Experimental/Avant-Garde/Art House, Queer Themes/Interest
In Collection
#1093
8*
Seen It:  Yes
(8/13/2017 Home)
7896748256839
IMDB   6.6
92 mins Germany / English
DVD  Region 2   15
Tilda Swinton Madonna
Johnny Mills Lover
Philip MacDonald Joseph
Pete Lee-Wilson Devil
Spencer Leigh Mary Magdalene / Adam
Jody Graber Young Boy
Roger Cook Christ
Kevin Collins Lover
Director
Derek Jarman


At first this looks like The Last of England 2, but there's a crucial difference: this time, there's no pretension to objectivity. Jarman's own presence is central, and everything else on the screen is presented as his subjective dreams. Hence Jarman looks at his own garden near the sea in Dungeness, and imagines that it's the Garden of Eden or Garden of Gethsemane; Jarman reads about the government passing Section 28 and about the [Church of England] Synod witch-hunting gay priests, and imagines that Christ died for downcast gays; Jarman contemplates his own mortality (he is HIV-positive), and imagines that the end of the world is nigh. Touching, intense, sometimes unexpectedly amusing, sometimes agonising, and always achingly sincere. (Time Out)
Edition Details
Release Date 2015
Packaging Keep Case
No. of Discs/Tapes 1
Personal Details
Purchase Date 7/30/2017
Location Personal Library
Owner Deitz
Store EBay - dinhodeal
Purchase Price $33.99
Condition New
Tags HIV/AIDS
Links ‡ Full Movie
± Review: NY Times (1991)
‡ Stephen Carr, Doing Queer Theology in The Garden: Derek Jarman and Christianity,1998
‡ Article: Wikipedia
The Garden at Core for Movies
IMDB
TheMovieDb.org

Notes
This 1990 film written and directed by Derek Jarman is visually beautiful· The themes include gay rights, HIV/AIDS†, the modern world (in particular, celebrity, commercialism and consumerism), and the tension between religious dogma, personal belief, outlook and spiritual journey· The film is set in a remote part of the English countryside next to the sea, where Jarman lived towards the end of his life·
While Jarman was an Atheist, the film is steeped in Christian myth and theology· He speaks as prophet, not priest· "The Garden contains much religious, though not always Christian, imagery taking the pattern of suffering, death and resurrection as part of gay and lesbian experiences· The gaymen share the fate of Jesus, Jesus shares the fate of the gaymen· Interpreting Jarman's The Garden is not a matter of achieving THE one true reading of the film· Jarman delighted in the mystery and ambiguity of his films· When people came up to him and said that they had found their life portrayed in one of his films, he never argues with the interpretation, just marveled at the plethora of readings, of interpretations, that the film was capable of bearing·" [Stephen Carr, 1998]

† "Human Immunodeficiency Virus"/“Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome·” On 22 December 1986, Jarman was diagnosed as HIV positive and discussed his condition in public· At the time, diagnoses was eqivalent to a death sentence· By 1990, he was displaying serious AIDS-related illnesses· In 1994, he died of an AIDS-related illness in London, aged 52.