source: Jubilee

Trailer—Jubilee

Jubilee

JUBILEE was the first film to come from the true British punk rock scene, and has a fascinating cast, but unfortunately this is one of the most boring, pretentious, and ultimately pointless movies I've ever seen. I defy anyone to stay awake through it.

Jordan, Little Nell, Jayne County and countless other wonderful characters of the time are captured by an artist ... Artists rarely see whats really there and Jarman missed Punk by a mile with this ... There are parts that are unforgettable ... Jordans dance being the Stand Out ... But what we have here is a film maker that has no idea of how to make a film narrative that would communicate his ideas ... If you want to see Jarmans world watch "The Alternative Miss World" which is much more entertaining, though not one of his films obviously ... Only watch this mess for some wonderful portraits of the people of the time ... Jarman did things a lot better with "Last of England"

This movie was, quite frankly, crap. Artsy, pretentious crap, to be fair, but crap nevertheless. Only see it if you're into post-apocalyptic films of the worst kind/are a die-hard Rocky Horror fan/ have very low standards. There wasn't much of a plot, and what was there was entirely too hard to follow amidst the seizure-inducing color scheme of the movie and it's poor acting. If you still wish to see this movie, however, just fast forward to the Brittania dance-sequence. It's totally worth the $3.50 you'll pay renting it from anywhere, and has more poignant acting and plot than any other section of the entire film. And be sure to turn off the movie during the Little Nell smothering sex-scene.

I first watched this on a dodgy vhs tape in 1979 as a 12 year old. Trying to be both rebellious & Adrian Mole at the same time, I subsequently raved to my friends that this was punk ( which was already over ) and simply an awesome film that I got from the opening scene to closing titles. My one warning to friends was that Toyah's character was really really really annoying. Fast forward 42 years and I decided to watch it again & to my utter horror I realised that it was in fact a steaming pile of pompous art school crap, and not the towering masterpiece of youth culture art house film making I had told all my equally impressionable mates about 😳 What was I thinking when I was 12 ? Thankfully since then my taste has improved greatly & I can now fully appreciate art house & independent cinema as well as marvel movies. But I got one thing right back then , Toyah's character is still really really really annoying.

I can think of a great many words to describe Jubilee. Yet the one that I most want to scream is pretentious art-house crap. All these borderline masturbatory gushing reviews for this pap smear of a "film". why? because it "thinks outside the box", or "in your face", or "poetry in action"?? The former two might be true, the latter one is NOT. This film is not punk, it's tripe. Tripe of the worst kind boring, inane, idiotic tripe. My Grade: F DVD Extras: "Jubilee: A time less Golden" Documentary; Jordan's Dance (a super-8 short); theatrical trailer; shooting script; costume sketches; Continuity stills; "a new wave movie" (a collection of odds & ends)

Let me start off by saying I love Derek Jarman's work. Caravaggio and Edward II are among my favorite films. But he, like a lot of filmmakers, just didn't get punk. I realize that this movie is about more than punk and what it has to say about society and class is important. But dressing people up in torn clothes and playing any generic loud/fast music does not equal punk. Having so many non-actors in important roles doesn't help either. If you want a film that gets what punk rock is about, has something to say about society, and has great music, try Rude Boy.

This Derek Jarman film is split between Queen Elizabeth I and John Dee talking about.... well, I'm not sure what, and modern nihilistic young people living a slovenly life. At first I thought it was going to be a contrasting of the high-flown aspirations of the Enlightenment and an ironic view that "yes, this is what we fought Hitler for" Well, that's present, but Jenny Runacre as the Virgin Queen doesn't offer much in the way of commentary. I suspect Jarman expected his audience to compare and contrast and reach the correct conclusion, with a strong hint from the director. As such it lacks passion and subtlety, and I'm still wondering why Jarman's policeman wears a helmet which doesn't seem to protect his head.