MUBI

For thousands of years people have been looking backwards through the lens of history to imagine a more sacred and simple time. Much to the disappoint of those who choose to search, there have always been works of art that interrogate this notion. Set in the 4th century in a desolate Roman outpost, Sebastiane explores the two strongest desires of human beings: sex and freedom. Slow and strange, the film unpacks the thoroughly timeless prejudices faced by anyone whose desires fall left of the dial. Ironically, the sexually charged soldiers treat homosexuality as a distasteful yet hardly sinful indulgence that simply occurred along the spectrum of human sexuality. However, religious autonomy merited full punishment. The film also identifies a few universal tropes of sexual behavior including the longing for power and beauty. Scenes between Sebastiane and outpost commander Severus are marked by Severus’ brutal lust for Sebastiane’s virginal purity, which is countered by Sebastiane’s deeper desire to purify Severus with love. Meanwhile, director Derek Jarman demonstrates the fight or fuck instinct latent in all men, which tends to unveil itself in moments of boredom and drunkenness of which there are plenty on this most peculiar Roman holiday. The many forces of love and hate collide in the film’s grossly affecting climax, soundless except for the winds of time. An undeniably powerful film underscored by music from Brian Eno and an audacious all Latin script, Sebastiane succeeds in leaving a profound mark on any viewer willing to call into question the sanctity of the past.

Title: Sebastiane
Year: 1976
Country: UK
Language: Latin
Genre: Drama, History
Directors:
Paul Humfress
Derek Jarman
Writers:
Paul Humfress
Derek Jarman
Jack Welch
James Whaley
Cast:
Leonardo Treviglio
Barney James
Neil Kennedy
Richard Warwick
Janusz Romanov
Ken Hicks
Donald Dunham
Daevid Finbar
Steffano Massari
Lindsay Kemp
Rating: 4/10

My second film of Derek Jarman, his feature-length debut co-directed with Paul Humfress, it was quite a talking-point and a rousing art film in light of firstly, it speaks entirely in Latin and secondly, the interpretation of the anecdote of Saint Sebastiane was quite a stir and prompted some severe controversy at the time when it being released owing to a blatant male nudity exposure, and it brazenly features many homo-erotic scenes. And afterward, the film’s notoriety has never ceased to prevail, especially considering the untimely decease of Derek Jarman.

In my instant response, with its gritty fibre, the film bears a resemblance of a dated pornography, an astonishing gambit is the opening dancing sequence of Lindsay Kemp with his troupe, which is both campy and filthy. Soon the film takes a prompt locale changeover to an arid desert where Sebastiane and other soldiers are being exiled, with a non-female premise, the masculinity carries the day, the camera lingers on the sinewy male bodies restlessly (not only Sebastiane, other soldiers are all model-designed male mannequins, maybe an OTT Neil Kennedy could not excluded by a strict criterion), slow-motions are strenuously pressed into service while two soldiers passionately caressing each other in the water. By contrast, the actors are plain numb and wooden, better serving as statues than line-readers which as if the lines are beyond their comprehension, actually the use of Latin is a ballyhoo to the max.

For me Derek Jarman has so far become an odd number to appreciate, after a throbbing viewing of CARAVAGGIO (1986, an encouraging 8/10), regrettably, SEBASTIANE backfires much stronger than I would expect, a low 4 out of 10 bursts out of my heart without any wavering, even Brian Eno cannot save it this time.