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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Derek Jarman
USA 1990

 

Half waking dream and half fiery polemic, The Garden was born of director Derek Jarman’s rage over continued anti-gay discrimination and the sluggardly response to the AIDS crisis—he had been diagnosed HIV-positive in 1988. Starring Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton), this uniquely kaleidoscopic film shows the filmmaker’s genius at its most coruscating, making space in its breadth of vision for an over-the-top Hollywood-style musical number, nightmare images of tar-and-feather queer persecution, and footage of the particularly menacing-looking nuclear power plant that overlooks Jarman’s own garden, the point from which his film begins, and a cherished spot which he must keep tending to even as his body begins to betray him. Writhing with sorrow and anger, and yet so vividly alive to the loveliness of being, The Garden is a baleful and beautiful epistle from the brink of beyond.

***

In 1987, diagnosed as HIV positive, Derek Jarman moved to Prospect Cottage, Dungeness, Kent, where he bough a small fisherman’s cottage and subsequently created a garden, using local wild plants and debris picked up from the beach. All beneath the shadow of the nearby nuclear power station.

Just as the garden represents the private sphere of the British, so is Jarman’s “The Garden” his most private, his inner sphere, a non-narrative vignette of home movie recordings and symbolic and religious figures. And just as Jarman said, that he constantly reinvented his own past, so does he reinvent “The Garden”, as a surreal staging of the life and suffering of Christ, including a commercial for credit cards with Judas, urban guerrilla paparazzi shooting Maria and three Santa clauses visiting the baby Christ set versus the solitude of his own garden and the nearby beach against the nuclear horror.

The imagery is extremely personal and not as such open to the viewer. Apart from Christ, Jarman sets up multiple images of homosexuality, from grotesque S/M to tender love, and of Mother Nature, all against himself and his inner eye. It does take awhile before some logic appears and for those who stick around, it will opened itself up and reveal an inner beauty and wisdom. That and a stunning gay staging of “Think Pink” from “Funny Face”.

Henrik Sylow

***

Director Derek Jarman takes the viewer for a walk around his own garden in rural England for this non-narrative film. Many of the scenes depict the Passion of Christ, but the sufferings are instead visited upon a gay couple. Jarman then assaults the senses with a series of images, including a campy version of the song "Think Pink" from Funny Face.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: September 6th, 1990 (Toronto Film Festival)

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Comparison:

Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL vs. Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

  

Released, on Blu-ray, by BFI in the UK:

Distribution

Artificial Eye

Region 2 - PAL

Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:28:10 (4% PAL speedup        1:32:29.877
Video 1.63.1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 6.98 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,767,257,891 bytes

Feature: 31,474,599,936 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital English

DTS-HD Master Audio English 3746 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3746 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1991 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1991 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Commentary:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 2000 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2000 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

Subtitles None English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Artificial Eye

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen letterboxed - 1.63.1

Edition Details:
• Making of 'The Garden' (43:39)
• Picture Gallery: Pictures by Liam Daniel
• Biographies

DVD Release Date: February 28, 2005
Keep Case

Chapters 13  

Release Information:
Studio:
Kino

 

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,767,257,891 bytes

Feature: 31,474,599,936 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Edition Details:

• Audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan
• After the Garden, Richard Heslop remembers Derek Jarman’s later days (09:31)
• Anything Can Happen, Richard Heslop on working with Jarman (11:18)
• David Lewis remembers The Garden (16:04)
• James Mackay remembers The Garden (14:38)
• The Other Great Masterpiece, John Maybury considers Jarman’s enthusiasm for gardening (06:11)
• Trailer (01:32)


Blu-ray Release Date:
August 27th, 2019
Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 11

 

 

Comments:

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

 


Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL

 

Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

1) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

  

 

Box Cover

  

Released, on Blu-ray, by BFI in the UK:

Distribution Artificial Eye Home Video - Region 2 - PAL Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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Gary Tooze

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