The Last of England (film)

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|

1987 British film

The Last of England

Directed by| Derek Jarman
Written by| Derek Jarman
Produced by|

* James Mackay
* Don Boyd

Starring|

* Tilda Swinton
* Nigel Terry
* Jonathan Phillips
* Spencer Leigh
* Spring - Mark Adley

Narrated by| Nigel Terry
Cinematography| Derek Jarman, Christopher Hughes, Richard Heslop, Cerith Wyn Evans
Edited by| Derek Jarman, Peter Cartwright, Angus Cook
Music by|

* Simon Fisher Turner
* Andy Gill
* Marianne Faithfull
* Mayo Thompson
* Diamanda Galás
* Barry Adamson

Release dates

* August 1987 (1987-08) (Edinburgh International Film Festival)
* 14 February 1988 (1988-02-14) (Berlin International Film Festival)

Running time

| 87 min.
Country| United Kingdom
Language| English
Budget| GBP£276,000
The Last of England, the painting from which the film derives its name

The Last of England is a 1987 British arthouse film directed by Derek Jarman and starring Tilda Swinton.

It is a poetic depiction of what Jarman felt was the loss of traditional English culture in the 1980s and his anger about Thatcher's England,[1][2] including the formation of Section 28 Local Government Act.[3] It is named after The Last of England, a painting by Ford Madox Brown.[3]

One of the film's most famous scenes is of Tilda Swinton as a bride mourning her executed husband.[1] The scene was shot near the director's home on the beach of Dungeness, Kent.[3]

Jarman wrote a book, with the same title, to accompany the film.[4]

## Cast

[edit]

* Tilda Swinton as The Maid
* Spencer Leigh as Soldier / Various roles
* 'Spring' Mark Adley as Spring / Various roles
* Gerrard McArthur as Various roles
* Jonny Phillips (credited as Jonathan Phillips) as Various roles
* Gay Gaynor as Various roles
* Matthew Hawkins as Junkyard Guy
* Nigel Terry as Narrator (voice)

## Awards

[edit]

Derek Jarman received the 1988 Teddy Award in Berlin for the film. And Tilda Swinton received the jury prize for her performance.[5]

## Reviews

[edit]

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an average score of 68%, based on 3 reviews.[6]

'What proof do you need the world's curling up like an autumn leaf?' wrote Time Out magazine.[7]

David Bezanson wrote that the film is “graphic and disorienting, yet also totally trite".[2]

## Soundtrack album

[edit]

Two versions of the soundtrack album were released on the Mute Records label. The LP has one side ("Bombers") by Simon Turner, and the other ("Diplomat") by a variety of performers, including Mayo Thompson with Albert Oehlen and Tilda Swinton; Andy Gill with Dean Garcia, Barry Adamson and Martin McCarrick, Brian Gulland and Diamanda Galas. The CD version includes all of this material and a third section, "Dead to the World", primarily by Turner.[citation needed]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Kuc, Kamila. "Last of England, The (1987)". screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
2. ^ a b Bezanson, David. "The Last of England Review". contactmusic.net. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
3. ^ a b c Scovell, Adam (7 November 2014). "In Profile: Derek Jarman's The Last of England (1988)". thedoublenegative.co.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
4. ^ Jarman, Derek; Hirst, David L. (1 January 1987). The Last of England. Constable & Robinson. ISBN 0094680809.
5. ^ Rose, Toby (6 February 2015). "Berlin Film Festival: why the Teddy Awards ceremony is one of the wildest parties on the festival circuit". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
6. ^ "THE LAST OF ENGLAND (1987)". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
7. ^ "The Last of England". timeout.com. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2018.

## External links

[edit]

* The Last of England at IMDb
* The Last of England at AllMovie

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Derek Jarman

Feature Films|

* Sebastiane (1976)
* Jubilee (1978)
* The Tempest (1979)
* The Angelic Conversation (1985)
* Caravaggio (1986)
* Aria (segment "Depuis le Jour") (1987)
* The Last of England (1988)
* War Requiem (1989)
* The Garden (1990)
* Edward II (1991)
* Wittgenstein (1993)
* Blue (1993)

Short film collages|

* In the Shadow of the Sun (1981)
* Glitterbug (1994)

* v
* t
* e

Teddy Award winners for Best LGBT Feature Film

* Law of Desire (1987)
* The Last of England (1988)
* Fun Down There (1989)
* Coming Out (1990)
* Poison (1991)
* Together Alone (1992)
* Wittgenstein (1993)
* Go Fish (1994)
* The Last Supper (1995)
* The Watermelon Woman (1996)
* All Over Me (1997)
* Hold You Tight (1998)
* Show Me Love (1999)
* Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000)
* Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
* Walking on Water (2002)
* A Thousand Clouds of Peace (2003)
* Wild Side (2004)
* A Year Without Love (2005)
* The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (2006)
* Spider Lilies (2007)
* The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela (2008)
* Raging Sun, Raging Sky (2009)
* The Kids Are All Right (2010)
* Absent (2011)
* Keep the Lights On (2012)
* In the Name of (2013)
* The Way He Looks (2014)
* Nasty Baby (2015)
* Tomcat (2016)
* A Fantastic Woman (2017)
* Hard Paint (2018)
* Brief Story from the Green Planet (2019)
* No Hard Feelings (2020)
* Miguel's War (2021)
* Three Tidy Tigers Tied a Tie Tighter (2022)
* All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White (2023)
* All Shall Be Well (2024)

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