Jubilee (1978)

Queen Elizabeth I travels to late twentieth-century Britain to discover a tawdry and depressing landscape where life mostly seems aimless and is anyway held cheap. Three post-punk girls ... See full summary »

Director:

Derek Jarman

Writer:

Derek Jarman

Stars:

Jenny Runacre, Nell Campbell, Toyah Willcox

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jenny Runacre	...	Queen Elizabeth I / Bod
Nell Campbell	...	Crabs (as Little Nell)
Toyah Willcox	...	Mad
Jordan	...	Amyl Nitrite
Hermine Demoriane	...	Chaos
Ian Charleson	...	Angel
Karl Johnson	...	Sphinx
Linda Spurrier	...	Viv
Neil Kennedy	...	Max
Jack Birkett	...	Borgia Ginz (as Orlando)
Jayne County	...	Lounge Lizard (as Wayne County)
Richard O'Brien	...	John Dee
David Brandon	...	Ariel (as David Haughton)
Helen Wellington-Lloyd	...	Lady in Waiting
Adam Ant	...	Kid

Storyline

Queen Elizabeth I travels to late twentieth-century Britain to discover a tawdry and depressing landscape where life mostly seems aimless and is anyway held cheap. Three post-punk girls while away their vacuous existence as best they can, from time-to-time straying into murder to relieve the boredom.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | post punk | queen elizabeth i | death by suffocation | woman strangles man | 

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Taglines:

Sex, drugs and punk rock. Add violence and time travel and you have Jubilee.

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jubileum

Filming Locations:

Bermondsey, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Megalovision, Whaley-Malin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In her opening speech, Amyl Nitrate tells us that her favourite song is "Don't Dream It, Be It". That song was written for The Rocky Horror Show (filmed as The Rocky Horror Picture Show) by co-star Richard O'Brien, who plays court magician John Dee.

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Goofs

After the policemen shoot Angel and Sphinx dead, Sphinx's eyes blink before the camera cuts away.

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Quotes

Sphinx: I was 15 before I realized I was dead.

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Connections

Referenced in Brows Held High: The Doom Generation (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Deutscher Girls"
Performed by Adam and the Ants
Written by Adam Ant (as Ant)
Produced by Guy Ford

User Reviews

mixed responses

Jubilee, being a Derek Jarman film, obviously sets out to shock. An assorted set of punks and deviants live together in a garish open plan hell festooned with pictures of Hitler. Mad, an orange haired punkette (Toyah Wilcox, these days much more toned down and almost normal) and Amyl Nitrate (played by the unusual Jordan), a very weird lady who dreams of being a ballerina and talks about Myra Hindley, fight with each other. The regal Bod (Jenny Runacre, very good in this in both roles) doubles as Queen Elizabeth, wandering with her soothsayer John Dee (Richard O'Brien) and emotionless angel Arial, through a Britain tottering on the brink of revolution as the Silver Jubilee hits. Other dotty characters include Viv, an artist, and Angel and Sphinx (Linda Spurrier, Ian Charleson and Karl Johnson, who all went more mainstream than this later in their careers), who seem to do very little. Little Nell plays little whore Crabs, and Adam Ant plays slow-witted Kid, who is adopted by the freaks into their little gang. Cue a lot of raucous music, satirical comment on the media and the establishment, and a fair amount of unpleasant murder. And some plastic petunias. It does have its moments, but as a whole it is a bit of a mess. For visual style and flair it scores highly, but on everything else maybe the jury is still out.