The Last of England (18)

Director: Derek Jarman
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Spencer Leigh, Spring
UK, 1987, 1 hour 27 minutes

One of Jarman’s most uncompromisingly personal and innovative films, this is a devastating vision of 80’s Britain that seems both very much ‘of its time’ and still as relevant as ever with its fury at the deterioration of both the social fabric and the beautiful countryside of Britain. A tirade of images of war and urban decay are intercut with Jarman’s own childhood home movies, creating a shocking, yet beautiful and poetic film that has a rare ability to envelop one in its swirling images and bleak comedy. All is filmed and linked abstractly without the glimmer of a plot or story line.

“Mesmerising” Time Out

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