Jubilee (1978)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Derek Jarman

Writer:

Derek Jarman (writer)

Release Date:

September 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Queen Elizabeth I travels to late twentieth-century Britain to discover a tawdry and depressing landscape...

Plot Keywords:

Punk | Nude Man Murdered | Sex | Violence | 1600s

Cast

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)
Wayne County	...	Lounge Lizard
Richard O'Brien	...	John Dee
David Brandon	...	Ariel (as David Haughton)
Helen Wellington-Lloyd	...	Lady in Waiting
Adam Ant	...	Kid

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:R | Hong Kong:III | New Zealand:R18 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Bermondsey, London, England, UK

Company:

Megalovision

Trivia:

Feature debut of Ian Charleson.

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

[Crabs and Happy Days on the bed, Mad distracts him]
Crabs: Back to work, no tea breaks.

Movie Connections:

References The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Soundtrack:

Dover Beach

Clockwork Orange taken a few steps further, with Time Travel

I have seen this film many times on my tired old VHS tape, and now I have it on DVD and watched it last night, and found that it still holds some bizarre fascination for me. Queen Elizabeth the 1st is taken by the Angel Ariel to behold the future of England, circa 1977, and hoo-boy, is she in for a disappointment. Seems that things have gone downhill a bit. We have this weird band of punkers, led by the much-older Bod (Jenny Runacre) but there's also the historian Amyl Nitrate, the crazed firebug Mad (Toyah Wilcox), the nymphomaniac Crabs (Little Nell, of Rocky Horror fame), and two brothers who have what is termed "an interesting relationship". Bleah, well not very on that count, but whatever. We're treated to blasts of punkers of the day, like Siouxie and the Banshees doing Love in a Void, and Chelsea doing Right to Work, and Wayne County & The Electric Chairs doing Paranoia Paradise. Best of all though is an actual (?) performance by the original Adam & The Ants (though they aren't called that, even though you can see "The Ants" on one piece of equipment). The version of Plastic Surgery is probably one of the highlights of the film. Music-wise, that is. As the great producer Borgia Ginz says, "As long as the music is loud enough, we won't hear the world falling apart". And falling apart it is. We have anarchy in the streets and pretty much anyone is fair game. At one point we have a bunch of street girls (played by The Slits) trashing a car while in the background a bunch of other girls dance a sort of Maypole with barbed wire around a victim tied to a telephone pole, while a policeman looks on smiling at their antics. This is almost plot less, and the basic idea seems to be survival of the most degenerate while this band of punkers do what they want to do for kicks. I'm sure I'm not doing this all justice in my description, but this is one that has to be seen to be appreciated, and no, I'm not on the take from Criterion and for a DVD this is pretty damned expensive, so I'm sure there's folks that are not willing to take a chance if they've never seen this film, but if you like the punk rock era of old and enjoy strange and bizarre films, then please take the time to see this.