Review by Amos Lassen
By: Amos Lassen
"THE GARDEN"
A Vision of Destruction and Creation
Amos Lassen
Derek Jarman's "The Garden" is a mix of artistic set pieces and raw, sometimes abstract footage. But it is also more than that; it is Jarman's most religious feature...
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"THE GARDEN"
A Vision of Destruction and Creation
Amos Lassen
Derek Jarman's "The Garden" is a mix of artistic set pieces and raw, sometimes abstract footage. But it is also more than that; it is Jarman's most religious feature. It is made up of a series of vivid dreamlike vignettes that transpose New Testament events into a contemporary and at times homoerotic context. Jarman strikes out at the foundations of political and religious homophobia by depicting two male lovers persecuted, tortured and crucified for their beliefs and very sexuality.
"The Garden" is visually striking. Screen projections of intense color, mixed with avant-garde imagery, of the like of the artwork of Pierre et Gilles enhance the viewing experience. These scenes are in stark contrast to sequences of rapid-motion photography, footage that includes the cinematic contribution of Kevin Collins (who Jarman first met in 1987 at the Tyneside Film Festival and who would come to care for Jarman for the final seven years of his life)
It is totally uncompromising, experimental and poignant as we take a journey of artistic depth; a visual discourse on the two-edged sword that is religion and homosexuality. There is minimal dialogue as we enter and dwell in the garden. Jarman uses the screen like a canvas to showcase his feelings on AIDS, homophobia and ultimately of death itself. This makes it a bit difficult for those who do not appreciate the beauty of abstract imagery.
Jarman returns to images of the four classical elements-fire, water, earth, and air as if the film is trying to give birth to a new world, as if it were a world itself. Aside from the biblical allusion, perhaps that's what the title of the film refers to. Gardens are microcosms, "life-giving gatherings of water, earth, and air-and fire as well". The images, through the use of color filters and compositing effects, present us with a trajectory of paradise lost and innocence persecuted. Jarman queers the parables of the Bible, envisioning the devil as a leather daddy (Pete Lee-Wilson), the 12 apostles as middle-aged women in headscarves, Mary Magdalene and Adam as a drag queen (Spencer Leigh), and Jesus as a gay couple (Johnny Mills and Philip MacDonald), or, in some scenes, as Jarman himself. And the filmmaker's muse, Tilda Swinton is the Madonna, a skull-cap-wearing desert wanderer who suggests an embodiment of Mother Nature herself.
A voiceover narration, written by Jarman and read in the elegant voice of Michael Gough, warns us that "The Garden" is wil not be interested in conclusions. At the end, as the martyred gay couple-we've seen them go through a modern 12 stations of the cross-sit down to a mournful gathering with the rest of the main cast, Gough speaks poetically of the lives lost to the AIDS epidemic: "Old age came quickly for my frosted generation. Cold, cold cold: They died so silently."
"The Garden" is partly Jarman's his cry of rage and frustration at being diagnosed with AIDS and about the continued persecution of gay men and above all at the way they had been abandoned during the AIDS crisis. Early on, Swinton lets out a scream of anguish that reverberates throughout the entire film, tinging even its beauty and its moments of playful camp with an ominous overtone. There is hopeless cynicism in a scene in which an executed Judas, hanging by the neck with his tongue protruding, is used to sell credit cards while Judas's body swings in the background.
And yet, despite being guided by a dream logic that's nightmarish more often than not, the film isn't oppressive. Jarman appears in a few roles, including that of a dreamer, on a bed in a shallow sea as white-linen clad figures circle around him holding flares. The film doesn't foreclose the dream of a more serene world. The film's images burn, yet Jarman understands that fire can symbolize both destruction and creation. We sense a feeling of hope that we can regrow a paradise. been snuffed out
Jarman created a brave and provocative film that is improvised by the actors It is a rich tapestry of images and striking sounds, and an eye-opening journey of moods and feelings from horror to humor. In "The Garden", Jarman speaks clearly and persuasively of his own opinions and sensibilities and speaks out strongly on the gay injustices he sees.
