Well, I’m an American so I’m not sure I can give you what you’re looking for, but this film excited me tremendously when I was, oh, between the ages of 20 and 25. I knew most of the dialogue by heart, knew many of the songs (in fact I still own the soundtrack, beautiful piece of work), and it was just one of my favorite films to live in. I had several at that time: Faster Pussycat Kill Kill, Vixen, Pink Flamingos, and Jubilee. I leaned toward the punk rock side of things. Recently, when I re-watched it, I wasn’t as blown away by it as I used to be; whatever it was I needed from it, that jolt of energy, that antisocial attitude, I didn’t really need anymore. I think Jarman has made smarter and subtler films. Parts of Jubilee remain almost unbearably intense, though: the castration of the cop, the baby carriage on fire, the Manson-like killing of Jayne County a.k.a. Lounge Lizard, Amyl Nitrate’s goose-stepping to a song that combines Rule Britannia with Sweet Jane! In many ways a remarkably creative film, though all but completely disowned by the actual punk movement when it was made.
Any Jarman in the collection is a good thing, and even though Jubilee is not his best work he still is a very talented artist who needs more films in the CC. I haven’t seen Jubilee in over a decade so it isn’t fresh, but I remember being underwhelmed by it, especially after watching more of Jarman’s oeuvre.
I love a lot of Derek Jarman’s work, but I hated Jubilee. It got to the point where I almost couldn’t finish the film, I disliked it so much.
I cannot give an opinion about the movie, because after about fifteen minutes I began bashing my head against the wall.
No wonder my friends used to look at me strangely when I forced them to watch it with me! This was one of the movies I used to make everybody watch — this and King of Comedy. I think everyone predicted I was going to turn out to hijack a plane or become a serial killer.
I love Jarman and like Jubilee, but I think he has at least 3 better films in his oeuvre. Namely, Wittgenstein, Edward II, Caravaggio. luckily, Zeitgeist recently put out a pretty decent boxset including Wittgenstein and Caravagio…both of which i’d highly recommend over Jubilee, which is a film much more valuable to fans of punk and punk film in my opinion.
The last time I saw Jubilee, was in a fleapit in the Anomic ‘Eighties, but from memory, the movie was anarchic and spoke to the feelings of much of the youth in the late 70’s/early ‘80s – it’s Graham Greene’s destruction as an act of creation – plus – great music!
It is nowhere near Jarman’s best, but it is fun.
Well it’s definitely good to see additional viewpoints here. That’s why this site is great.
I might have to give it another viewing when I’m a little less sleepy and a little less watching it with my wife. It definitely has an interesting look, but I feel like I might be missing something having grown up after most of the real punk scene died. I did enjoy Nitrate’s dance number.
And Nitrate (Jordan) is also the one who sings the song Jerusalem in the nightclub scene, under the name Suzi Pinns. Gorgeous song.
Since Criterion released it, I’ve always been curious about this film and what it was all about. And since Tilda Swinton’s recent popularity, I’ve heard Jarman’s name quite a bit. So I considered checking this film out but after reading some of these responses, it doesn’t sound like a film I would like. I’m not into the punk scene, don’t care too much for punk music, and I’m an American so might miss the cultural significance anyway.
Any new thoughts from anyone on this film?
It captured punk at the moment of its birth and trnasported it through time to Elizabethan England. Tild isn’t in it, but Jenny Runacre is.
Not for every taste.
It captured punk at the moment of its birth and trnasported it through time to Elizabethan England. Tild isn’t in it, but Jenny Runacre is.
Not for every taste.
“a remarkably creative film, though all but completely disowned by the actual punk movement when it was made”.
The “actual punk movement” disowned most things most of the time.
I love this movie, in no small part for its prescience in showing that even punk would be prey to the Borgia Ginzes of the world. The sharpest line of dialogue in the whole thing is when Ginz informs us that “They all sign up one way or another” — and it’s absolutely and catastrophically true: witness the Sex Pistols, paunchy and grooved, declaring that they want to beee aaah-naah-chyyy to paid-in-full summer festival audiences. “Jubilee” takes this decline and fall of revolutionary art and fashion to well past its logical conclusion, but, well, the century is yet young.
This film is also probably the first of Jarmans to start showing his anger against the perceived decline of England – political, social and it’s cultural health – a furious thread that would continue for the rest of career.
This would develop more fully in The Last of England (most explicitly against the years of Margaret Thatcher), The Garden, Blue and War Requiem and certainly in his writings and later paintings.Of course, like many English directors despairing at the state of their country, the diatribes are frequently sweetened by that English habit of nostalgic yearnings for a more lyrical, never-never land (reference Michael Powell for something of a kindred spirit), in this film represented by the figure of Queen Elizabeth I and a certain pastoral softness.
I haven’t seen it in ages, but I liked The Last of England much more.
I don’t know if there’s any great film about punk rock, almost nothing can compare to how exciting that phenomenon was. Living in the U.S. it was kind of frustrating, almost no one here got it.
I’m not a big fan of punk, so not too sure of what is out there, but you might want to check out a few films about The Sex Pistols:
- The Filth and the Fury (2000, documentary film about the band framed against British society at the time – probably the most interesting on this list)
- The Great Rock n’ Roll Swindle (1979, a weird mix of concert, documentary, animation and comedy; a bit hit and miss from what I remember, although worth a glance for the perverse sight of British character actress Irene Handl sharing a scene with Sid Vicious)
- Sid and Nancy (1986, fictionalisation about the downward spiral of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen)
There’s also Breaking Glass, which I’ve not seen (1980, but not Sex Pistols), so not sure how punk it is.
I love this film. I’m 25, so culturally it’s alien to me, but I still think it pulses with a reckless brilliance and captures the spirit of punk far more vividly than say, The Great Rock N Roll Swindle, a film that for some reason I cannot stand. I’m relatively new to Jarman, having discovered his work through his collaborations with Throbbing Gristle (they produced the amazing soundtrack for In The Shadow Of The Sun) and I think Jubilee is one of my favorite works of his. Along with Peter Greenaway, Jarman was Britian’s most creative, daring and significant post war filmaker.
I love this film. I’m 25, so culturally it’s alien to me, but I still think it pulses with a reckless brilliance and captures the spirit of punk far more vividly than say, The Great Rock N Roll Swindle, a film that for some reason I cannot stand. I’m relatively new to Jarman, having discovered his work through his collaborations with Throbbing Gristle (they produced the amazing soundtrack for In The Shadow Of The Sun) and I think Jubilee is one of my favorite works of his. Along with Peter Greenaway, Jarman was Britian’s most creative, daring and significant post war filmaker.
I love this film. I’m 25, so culturally it’s alien to me, but I still think it pulses with a reckless brilliance and captures the spirit of punk far more vividly than say, The Great Rock N Roll Swindle, a film that for some reason I cannot stand. I’m relatively new to Jarman, having discovered his work through his collaborations with Throbbing Gristle (they produced the amazing soundtrack for In The Shadow Of The Sun) and I think Jubilee is one of my favorite works of his. Along with Peter Greenaway, Jarman was Britian’s most creative, daring and significant post war filmaker.
like La Jetee with Mad Max
Bruce Dixon
So I watched Jubilee last night and was kind of curious as to what other people thought about it. Really, I was looking for a non-American perspective. I was getting that whole “I don’t get why Criterion felt the need to tackle this project” while watching the film. It was interesting and all, but I feel like I might have missed some sort of cultural significance or something. Feel free to enlighten me.