NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (August 2019): Derek Jarman's "The Garden" is one of the last films of the late director to arrive on Blu-ray. Thanks to Kino Lorber for bringing this masterpiece of pastiche to Blu-ray. The film is housed on a dual-layered Blu-ray and contains a maxed-out bitrate. In what is certainly a rare occurrence for DVDBeaver, I'm going to say that the image quality here is beside the point, for even if certain moments looked crisper on the DVD, they now have an almost ethereal, shot-on-video-and-projected glow. The film utilizes a mixture of media (Video, 16mm, Super-8 in either black & white or color) in its presentation, and I believe that this is a realistic presentation of Jarman's original intentions although it shows less information in the frame than the DVD (notably the right edge) and the BD visuals can look horizontally stretched. For those looking for a crisp glossy image - well, this film was never meant to look that way. The expansion to 1080P does create artifacts and some edge-enhancement. We would like to compare this to the BFI Blu-ray one day.

We are given 2 audio options, either a 5.1 or 2.0 channel 24-bit DTS-HD Master. As the film also weaves a complicated mix of audio, the 5.1 provides a rather efficient cacophonous (no pejorative) sound profile, avoiding total revisionism. The 2.0 channel is clearly the choice for purists, as this would have been how the film was originally presented. Either way, "Think Pink" by Roger Edens is equally effective. There are optional English subtitles on this Region 'A' Blu-ray from Kino.

There is an all new commentary on this Blu-ray with film writer Samm Deighan. The film lies in the abstract and experimental, and Deighan is a perfect fit to guide us through the symbolism and allusions. I'm reminded of a wonderful professor of literature that acted as a Rosetta Stone of sorts when tackling T.S. Eliot's 'The Wasteland' in University. That is not to say that "The Garden" is some monumental cipher to tackle, in fact the film is very warm and approachable (even amidst scenes of violence and death), and this invaluable commentary is a perfect companion. The rest of the extras here have an almost eulogistic quality to them, as it would seem that anyone that met Jarman was immediately taken by his utter talent and passion. "After the Garden" spends 9-minutes with Richard Heslop discussing Derek Jarman’s later days, and Heslop also appears in the 11-minute "Anything Can Happen" where he talks about working with the late director. The 16-minute "David Lewis remembers The Garden" has the filmmaker discussing how he came to work with Jarman, and their artistic bond. "James Mackay remembers The Garden" spends 14-minutes along the same lines. "The Other Great Masterpiece" spends 6-minutes with John Maybury considering Jarman’s enthusiasm for gardening, and opens with a great contextual placement of Queer art of the time, explaining that Maybury caught the tail end of an artistic movement "somewhere in between Warhol and Hockney where people who grew up with radical politics and the avant-garde" had a unique style. The film's trailer rounds out the Blu-ray from Kino.

For fans of Jarman, or queer art in general, this is an indispensable Blu-ray disc from Kino. The film is practically suffocating with the specter of Jarman's looming death (he knew he was dying when he made this picture). Watching the film now, knowing in retrospect the gigantic loss about to take place with Jarman's death, well it doesn't make things any easier. The mixture of death/violence with religious iconography and queer imagery is as potent as it ever was. The pure pastiche on display is indicative of a master artist in full control of his medium(s) and yet losing control of his body. A very difficult film that I encourage everyone to try to spend some time with. Kudos to Kino for bringing this film to Blu-ray, and with such a fine commentary from Samm Deighan. Pick this up! 

Gary Tooze