Jubilee (1977 film)

Infobox Film
name = Jubilee

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image_size =
caption =
director = Derek Jarman
producer = Howard Malin James Whaley
writer = Derek Jarman Christopher Hobbs
narrator =
starring = Jenny Runacre Jordan Nell Campbell Linda Spurrier Toyah Willcox
music = Chelsea Suzi Pinns Brian Eno Siouxsie and the Banshees Wayne County Toyah Willcox Adam Ant
cinematography = Peter Middleton
editing = Nick Barnard Tom Priestley
distributor =
released = 1977 (UK) September 1979 (USA)
runtime = 103 min.
country = UK
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:26650
imdb_id = 0076240

"Jubilee" is a 1977 cult film directed by Derek Jarman. It stars Jenny Runacre, Ian Charleson, and a host of proto-Goths and punk rockers. The title refers to the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 1977.

In "Jubilee", Queen Elizabeth I (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 Nitrate (Jordan), Bod (Runacre in a dual role), Chaos (Hermine Demoriane), Crabs (Nell Campbell), and Mad (Toyah Willcox).

The film is heavily influenced by the 1970s punk aesthetic in its style and presentation. Shot in grainy colour it is largely plotless, episodic, untidy, confrontational, often incoherent and noisily anti-establishment and anti-royalty (Buckingham Palace has become a recording studio run by a seedy music producer named Borgia Ginz).

Numerous punk icons appear in the film including Jordan (a Malcolm McLaren protege), Toyah Willcox, Campbell (Little Nell), 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.

Reaction

The film is now considered a cult classic.

The film had many critics in Britain among punk circles, in which Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood went so far as to manufacture a t-shirt on which was printed her own open letter to Jarman denouncing the film and his misrepresentations of punk.

External links

*
*Julian Upton: [http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/30/jubilee.html Anarchy in the UK. Derek Jarman's 'Jubilee' revisited] Bright Lights Film Journal, Issue 30, October 2000
* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=191&eid=292&section=essay Criterion Collection essay by Tony Peake]
* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=191&eid=293&section=essay Criterion Collection essay by Tilda Swinton]