Jubilee (1978 film)

Jubilee
Directed by Derek Jarman
Produced by Howard Malin
James Whaley
Written by Derek Jarman
Christopher Hobbs
Starring Jenny Runacre
Jordan
Nell Campbell
Linda Spurrier
Toyah Willcox
Adam Ant
Music by Chelsea
Suzi Pinns
Brian Eno
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Wayne County
Toyah Willcox
Adam Ant
Ludwig Minkus
Cinematography Peter Middleton
Edited by Nick Barnard
Tom Priestley
Release dates
 February 1978 (UK)
September 1979 (USA)
Running time
 103 min.
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget £50,000[1] or £200,000[2]

Jubilee is a 1978 cult film directed by Derek Jarman. It stars Jenny Runacre, Ian Charleson, and a host of punk rockers, including Adam Ant and Toyah. The title refers to the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 1977.

Plot

In Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth I (Jenny Runacre) is transported forward in time by the occultist John Dee (Richard O'Brien) through the spirit guide Ariel (a character from Shakespeare's The Tempest). Elizabeth arrives in the shattered Britain of the 1970s. Queen Elizabeth II is dead, killed in an arbitrary mugging, and Elizabeth I moves through the social and physical decay of the city observing the activities of a group of sporadic nihilists, including Amyl Nitrite (Jordan), Bod (Runacre in a dual role), Chaos (Hermine Demoriane), Crabs (Nell Campbell), and Mad (Toyah Willcox).

Numerous punk icons appear in the film including Jordan (a Malcolm McLaren protégé), Toyah Willcox, Nell Campbell, Adam Ant, Demoriane and Wayne County. It features performances by Wayne County and Adam and the Ants. There are also cameo appearances by The Slits and Siouxsie and the Banshees. The film was scored by Brian Eno. The uncredited piece of music used in the 'Jordan's Dance' scene was written by Ludwig Minkus in 1884 for Act I in the revived ballet 'Giselle'.[3]

Beginning with a vignette of Elizabeth I and John Dee summoning The Tempest's Ariel, the action moves to an anarchic 1978, where law and order has broken down and punk gangs roam the streets, committing acts of murder and larceny. In one squat, Amyl Nitrate is instructing a group of young women about appropriate female behaviour, which valourises the violent criminal activity of Myra Hindley, before she reminisces about her time as a ballet dancer and introduces the audience to Mad, Crabs, Chaos, Sphinx and Angel (two incestuous bisexual brothers) and Bod, a virgin anarchist. Bod has just strangled and killed Elizabeth II and appropriated her crown. From there, the group move on to a café, where Mad attacks a waitress, and Bod contacts impresario Borgia Ginz. However, she is surprised to find Amyl performing a pastiche of Rule Britannia. Sphinx and Angel establish a relationship with Viv, a young former artist, who they take to meet an ex-soldier. Borgia Ginz is branching out into property management and has purchased "abandoned' properties like St Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace, which are transformed into musical venues. Meanwhile, Mad, Bod and Crabs asphyxiate one of Crabs' one night stands, and a fight breaks out at a disco session in a St. Paul's Crypt. Violent police activity causes the death of Sphinx and Angel and two revenge attacks on police officers by Bod and Mad. Finally, Borgia Ginz takes the three women off to Dorset and signs a recording contract with them. Interspersed with these displays of contemporary anarchic violence, Dee, Ariel and Elizabeth try to interpret the signs of anarchic modernity around them, before they undertake a pastoral and nostalgic return to the sixteenth century at the film's end.

Cast

Influences

The film is heavily influenced by the 1970s punk aesthetic in its style and presentation. Shot in grainy colour, it is largely plotless and episodic. Location filming took advantage of London neighbourhoods that were economically depressed and/or still contained large amounts of rubble from the London Blitz.

Reaction

The film had many critics in British punk circles. Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood manufactured a T-shirt on which was printed an "open letter" to Jarman denouncing the film and his misrepresentations of punk.[4] Jarman described the project as "a film about punk" during pre-production, but later explained that it had a much broader thematic scope. The film is now considered a cult classic, and was released by the Criterion Collection.

References

  1. ↑ Alexander Walker, National Heroes: British Cinema in the Seventies and Eighties, Harrap, 1985 p 235
  2. ↑ Walsh, John. "Cultivating his own plot." Sunday Times [London, England] 16 Dec. 1990: 2[S3]+. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
  3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSf01mefgDA
  4. ↑ Jubilee DVD extras, production diary

External links