PAY WHAT YOU CAN TICKETS
Suggested: £6.00 (£4.50 conc.)
Dir. Derek Jarman
Year. 1978
Country: Britain
Run-time: 110 mins
Rating: 15
Doors: 4.30pm Film: 5pm
10% discount on drinks. Just show your ticket at the bar.
An extraordinary and controversial film that has often been portrayed as riposte to the popular narratives surrounding the Queen's 'Silver Jubilee' in 1977, 'Jubilee' entertainingly narrates the voyage of a heavily stylised Queen Elizabeth the 1st as she journeys 400 years into the future to see the state of Britain during the reign of her namesake and successor, Queen Elizabeth the 2nd. She is not amused to discover a dystopian future Britain where an anarchic punk sensibility rules amidst chaos and destruction, coupled with an unlikely blend of humour, parody and confrontational outrage filtered through youth culture at the time, most particularly that of punk and nihilistic bohemianism.
The imagery and symbolism in this film is as much Jarman's as it is that of 'punk' and is shot through with searing, constructed bas reliefs and mis-en-scenes that are a hallmark in so many of his later works. Jarman professed to have originally written off punk as a derivative, sub-dadaist phenomenon, but changed his mind when he saw punk icon Jordan in the street. She became a central figure in the subsequent film, along with future 'stars' such as Adam Ant and the eponymous leader of the Electric Chairs, Wayne (later Jayne) County. Famously, Vivienne Westwood wrote a no holds barred critique of the film addressed to Jarman on the front and back of a 'punk' t-shirt.
During the official week of the Jubilee, the Sex Pistols most famous anthem 'Anarchy in the UK' was at No 1 in the pop charts, banned by the BBC. 45 years on, the Queen was celebrating her Platinum Jubilee, whilst lead singer of the Sex Pistols Johnny Rotten was advertising butter and developing his property empire. A peculiar irony that might not have been lost on Derek Jarman, or many who watched this film first time round. Were punks sub-Dadaist poseurs or cultural revolutionaries? Discuss.
