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The Last of England

  • 1987
  • Unrated
  • 1h 32m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
The Last of England (1987)
DramaFantasy

The artist's personal commentary on the decline of his country in a language closer to poetry than prose. A dark meditation on London under Thatcher.The artist's personal commentary on the decline of his country in a language closer to poetry than prose. A dark meditation on London under Thatcher.The artist's personal commentary on the decline of his country in a language closer to poetry than prose. A dark meditation on London under Thatcher.

  • Director
    • Derek Jarman
  • Writer
    • Derek Jarman
  • Stars
    • Tilda Swinton
    • Spencer Leigh
    • 'Spring' Mark Adley
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.4/10
    1.6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Derek Jarman
    • Writer
      • Derek Jarman
    • Stars
      • Tilda Swinton
      • Spencer Leigh
      • 'Spring' Mark Adley
    • 13User reviews
    • 16Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 4 wins total

    Photos64

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    Top cast9

    Edit
    Tilda Swinton
    Tilda Swinton
    • The Maid
    Spencer Leigh
    • Soldier…
    'Spring' Mark Adley
    • Spring
    • (as Spring)
    • …
    Gerrard McArthur
    • Various roles
    Jonny Phillips
    Jonny Phillips
    • Various roles
    • (as Jonathan Phillips)
    Gay Gaynor
    • Various roles
    Matthew Hawkins
    • Junkyard Guy
    Nigel Terry
    Nigel Terry
    • Narrator
    • (voice)
    Derek Jarman
    Derek Jarman
    • Self
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Derek Jarman
    • Writer
      • Derek Jarman
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews13

    6.41.5K
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    Featured reviews

    judas-15

    Fluid film

    Jarmen manages to create a world stinging from Thatcherite policies, with viscious imagery burning on the screen. If you want an indictment of the eighties without irony loaded sentimentality or crass stereotypes, then experience The Last of England.
    5CuriosityKilledShawn

    Very Weird and strange

    This film seems to be a bizarre hybrid of David Lynch at his most weirdest and Jim Jarmush on an acid trip. There is no linear progression or any character development. Or any real characters when I think about it. Or story. Just a very strange mixture of disgusting visuals and gay imagery.

    For the first half of the movie we linger on a bunch of hobos in a demolished wasteland. We can't really tell if they are just living in an old factory or if the world has been destroyed by nuclear apocalypse. These scenes are tinted (or flooded) by either red, green or blue. The guys just walk around and stuff. Nothing special.

    I don't know why I didn't walk out of this movie. Obviously some part of it held my attention. I don't know what though. What's even stranger is that I WOULD recommend this film to others. If you like movies it's a good idea to see a few bizarre ones. If you don't like it that's fine. But I bet you can't fully explain WHY you don't like it. I can't explain why I even sat thru it.

    It's good to see. Even though it doesn't have the normal things associated with movies. IE script, producer and well…I dunno. Not much dialogue either.
    8slawman

    Cold but somehow utterly affecting

    "The Last of England" was the second Derek Jarman film I saw (after "Edward II"). It still amazes me how a film that is so cold in feel and structure (not to mention image) can be so emotionally moving and draining. This was Jarman's peculiar gift, and he employs it here perhaps better than anywhere else (although "Blue" comes close - but that's a completely different experience). If you're looking for introductions to Jarman, you should probably be advised to look elsewhere - this is not easy going for the novice - but as a treatise on the emotional, spiritual, and physical fragmentation of modern society (in this case England, but it really could be anywhere), this film is one of the very best. No linear plotline, only one recognizable recurring character, but somehow one feels that Jarman has channeled all of his worries, fears, and frustrations directly into your cranium. Needless to say, not for everyone - but you already knew that, right?
    9neilrolland

    A political revolt of Thatcher's Britain. A cinematic Gem

    Challenging the politics of 80s Britain and the film-making of the time, The Last of England stands out as an outstanding cinematic achievement.

    Don't get me wrong, when I first watched, I found it difficult to watch and actually left before it finished! But it drew me back. I did some reading on the film and on Derek Jarman and after this I was able to see the Genius in the piece.

    The main character is Spring. (we do not learn this is his name until the end credits) He portrays the working class outsider in Thatcher's Britain. There are scenes of destruction, the end of industry, the feeling of terror brought on by the IRA at the time. The film challenges the Taboo's of homosexual relationships, forbidden love, drug use etc etc Through montage, still images, music and voice over, Jarman portrays his feelings of Britain in the 1980s and how he would like to sail away from this terrible Island (see the final sequence) Shot on 8mm, Jarman was revolting against the Hollywood standard 35mm, using home video footage on top to garnish the effect.

    Really before you see this film, you MUST do some reading into it first. I believe this will enhance your enjoyment and let you get a flavour of what Jarman was trying to do with this piece
    rick_7

    A one-of-a-kind movie

    "On a green hill, mourners stand and weep for the last of England," intones Nigel Terry at the start of this arresting mission statement from art-house infant* terrible Jarman. The film is a barrage of striking imagery, mixing old Super 8 footage of a child playing in the back garden with shots of a teenage punk shooting up in a garage, and the middle-aged Jarman, apparently chronicling vanishing species of plant in some kind of futuristic warehouse. Then there's clips from news reports, audio of Hitler, some staged stuff about paramilitaries and - of course - a naked yuppie having sex with a soldier on a massive Union Jack. An air of paralysing despair permeates this one-of-a-kind movie, which takes on state-sponsored violence, the Thatcher government, misguided building projects, the trashing of the environment and American cultural imperialism - all in the opening half hour. Not all of it hits the target, and some of it may only make sense to Jarman, but for every piece of self-mythologising pretentiousness there's a pithily employed phrase (courtesy of T.S. Eliot or Allen Ginsberg) or thought-provoking juxtaposition. Like the sounds of a Nazi rally segueing into a vicious sideswipe at military discipline, then military pageantry. Or widow Tilda Swinton ripping her wedding dress to shreds - even as she wears it - on a nuclear beach. The Last of England plays like the forlorn, obscene illegitimate child of Humphrey Jennings' hymn to the nation - Listen to Britain. I liked it. Great soundtrack too, put together by Simon Fisher-Turner, and containing Elgar, Marianne Faithful and a spot-on pastiche of '30s musical numbers called Broadway Boy.

    *Yeah, I know this should have an 'e'. IMDb isn't so sure.

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
    Fantasy

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Quotes

      Voice 1: Is it loaded?

      Voice 2: Yes, Ma'am.

      Voice 1: Did you enjoy the Falklands?

      Voice 2: Yes, Ma'am.

    • Connections
      Edited from The Queen Is Dead (1986)
    • Soundtracks
      Refugee Theme
      Written by Barry Adamson

      Performed by Barry Adamson & Martin McCarrick (as Martin Micarrick)

      Produced by Barry Adamson

      Barry Adamson appears courtesy of Dying Art Ltd

      ® & © Dying Art Ltd 1987

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    FAQ17

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 18, 1988 (Japan)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • West Germany
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Last of England - Verlorene Utopien
    • Filming locations
      • Millennium Mills, West Silvertown, London, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Anglo International Films
      • Tartan Films
      • British Screen Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • £276,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $630
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 32m(92 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

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