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Jenny Runacre, Jordan, Nell Campbell, Linda Spurrier, Ian Charleson ... see more see more... , Toyah Willcox , Richard O'Brien , Adam Ant , Karl Johnson , Neil Kennedy , Orlando , Claire Davenport , Barney James , Lindsay Kemp , Helen Wellington-Lloyd , Howard Malin , Hermine Demoriane , Jack Birkett

Steeped in the nihilistic philosophy and rebellious fashions of the British punk movement, this early feature by experimental filmmaker Derek Jarman presents an unusual look at late 1970s London. The ... read more read more...bulk of Jubilee focuses on a loosely connected group of female outcasts, united by a hatred of convention that at times extends into dark violence. Providing contrast is the film's framing story, in which Queen Elizabeth I travels forward in time to view the future of England and finds unexpected sympathy with the female rebels. The film references both William Shakespeare and Siouxsie and the Banshees, and it alternates scenes of transgressive violence with heady discussions of English history. The film's casting alone makes it an intriguing artifact of its time, showcasing subcultural icons from musician Adam Ant to several cast members of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

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59% liked it

2,774 ratings

R, 1 hr. 43 min.

Directed by: Derek Jarman

Release Date: November 3, 1978

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DVD Release Date: May 27, 2003

Stats: 187 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (187)

  • YosemiteSamFan
    July 5, 2009
    YosemiteSamFan
    weird weird weird British stage show and street trash exhibition. I'm a Toyah fan so had to see this movie.
  • vierasesine
    August 20, 2007
    vierasesine
    Great set-up, not so great outcome. Definitely worth watching once if you're even slightly interested in weird films or punk rock, but perhaps not a second time (though I suppose you'd really need a second watch to fully understand this film).
  • SarahG1988
    September 10, 2006
    SarahG1988
    This is a pretty odd film. Not one i would watch again
  • fb1142797643
    January 29, 2012
    fb1142797643
    Interesting if flawed, "Jubilee" is director Derek Jarman's arty look at UK punks and urban decay. His detached stance seems somewhat ambivalent -- does he regard these flamboyant brats as an antidote to modern society or a mere symptom of it?

    With its day-glo characters and der... read moreelict locations, the film isn't out to create a realistic, metropolitan environment -- often, the actors just recite history or philosophy for the camera and serve as conduits for Jarman's thoughts. What passes for "plot" is strictly secondary, as various play-like vignettes are spliced together in collage. The motley cast includes the adolescent Toyah Willcox (relentlessly obnoxious and barely recognizable), the pre-fame Adam Ant, Little Nell (yes, from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"), Ian Charleson (half the film passed before I realized he starred in "Chariots of Fire" just a few years later) and Jenny Runacre (the group's aloof, glamorous matriarch). Willcox, Wayne County, Adam & the Ants (minus their later New Romantic frills) and Siouxsie & the Banshees are among the onscreen musical contributors, while Brian Eno adds ambient score. The Slits also make a quick cameo. Yet the centerpiece tune comes from a novice: the one-named Jordan (known here as "Amyl Nitrate"), who struts through sort of an operatic, reggae version of "Rule Brittania."

    The abusive Willcox has the juiciest part, but the most coherent plot thread is the stardom quest of a handsome ingenue (Ant) and his subsequent exploitation by a leering media impresario (the ridiculously overacting "Orlando"). Elsewhere, the sociopathic Nell, Willcox and Runacre collaborate on a few thrill killings, while the depraved proceedings are coolly observed by a time-traveling Queen Elizabeth I (Runacre again), her court astrologer (Richard O'Brien, also from "Rocky Horror") and the spooky, dark-eyed angel they have summoned as a guide. This trio functions as a narrative frame and one suspects that, given a choice, Jarman would rather live in their past era of magic and elegant costumes.

    Many British youths disliked "Jubilee" (punk-fashion icon Vivienne Westwood even ran off a notorious T-shirt decorated with a letter of protest) and it's easy to see why true rockers would prefer a grittier, grubbier work like, say, "Rude Boy." But "Jubilee" remains an intriguing curio that underground-music fans shouldn't miss.
  • gator681
    March 20, 2008
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]"Jubilee" starts with Queen Elizabeth I(Jenny Runacre) and her chief astrologer, John Dee(Richard O'Brien), being visited by an angel(Ian Charleson) who offers them a glimpse of a possible future where law and order has broken down, causing not only the end o... read moref history(Amyl Nitrite(Jordan) tries to rectify this by writing her own version of events.) but also that of art. Absolute freedom is the rule of the day which is good for personal relations but bad because violence is just as prevalent as sex. No matter what, music goes on, as The Kid(Adam Ant) goes to London to make it big.[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]Written and directed by Derek Jarman, "Jubilee" is an oddly beguiling and erotic movie that is purposefully ambivalent about the future, especially the effects of an increasingly irrelevant monarchy. Can it be that a future imagined cannot be any worse than the real one of 1978 with AIDS and Margaret Thatcher?[/font]
  • patrickdol
    April 15, 2008
    patrickdol
    This film is very "punk" and definitely a product of the time (1977) it was made.
    Great music in it, and a score by Brian Eno.
    On the surface it seems like a bunch of rag-tag individuals fucking about, but there's alot of comment and satire in it. Even toward the sub-culture i... read moret's glorifying.
    Where else will you see a gritty future, inhabited with punks, the clergy owning everything and all this being discovered by Queen Elizabeth 1.
  • littlecharmer1959
    February 25, 2008
    littlecharmer1959
    Anyone interested in British punk should watch this. Jubilee features some of the leader figures of British Punk including Adam Ant, Jordan, Little Nell, Toyah Wilcox, Wayne County, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Slits. Bizarre, violent and weird Jubilee takes Queen Elizabeth ... read more1st and transports her to 1978 Britain where we meet all the strange characters of the scene. Defiantly not one for everyone, you'll ethier love it or hate it, but if you are interested in Punk or obscure art movies then you have to see this.
  • JennyDevilDoll
    January 16, 2011
    JennyDevilDoll
    You had me at "Queen Elizabeth and John Dee time travel with an archangel to a futurist dystopia overrun by cockney punk rock kids." Only...when I finally watched it it was pointless, meandering, and hollow. Albeit beautiful to look at. I'd love a still of that burning baby carri... read moreage shot against a decaying urban landscape.
  • bohemeidentite
    August 30, 2008
    bohemeidentite
    It's absurd, violent, stupid, awfully acted, and completely irresistible. In 1977, punk rock was starting a revolution (thus ending its revolution, due to its own self-deprecating manifesto) -- and this movie is just that -- self-defeating. Punk rock film cameos? Please! This is ... read moreone of those obscure, terrible movies that I love, along with Ricky-Oh and Gummo. It's awful, but how do you rate a movie that has you glued to it, just for the eye-rolls it induces?
  • jes25924
    June 30, 2008
    jes25924
    Queen Elizabeth asks her court alchemist to show her a vision of England in the future, and the alchemist summons a angle/spirit guide(played by Adam Ant) who transports her to London 400 years into the future where it is a post apacalyptic wasteland. The story then follows a gro... read moreup of nihilistic girl punks who all get lengthy monologues(as does almost every character) on British history, art, sex, love, the music industry, anarchy, God, the end of western civilization etc, and their dealings with a mass media mogul who virtually controls the city, sadistic fascist police, and each other. All of the dialogue between the Queen, her alchemist, and the spirit is all in poetic verse, while all of the future talking is mostly cockney sloganeering which was so pretentious in the first couple of scenes I almost turned it off. However it really picked up after about the first fifteen minutes and you barely notice it. It's not really a film about punk so much as it is a film about the breakdown of civilization, which uses the punk scene as vehicle for the metaphor. It was actually a lot better than I thought it would be, I definitely recommend it for those of you interested in this sort of thing. Recording legend Brian Eno also does the score, and if that doesn't sweeten to pot for your to watch this, nothing will. Jarman has had many successes since, but none this vital, at least not for me.

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Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz
February 9, 2012
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

One of the more bleak but imaginative nihilist films to come out of England in the 1970s. Full Review

Ian Berriman
June 1, 2010
Ian Berriman, SFX Magazine

Flawed but fascinating, deliriously self-indulgent and perverse, it's the cinematic equivalent of having a mouthful of bile gobbed in your eye. Full Review

Rumsey Taylor
June 4, 2003
Rumsey Taylor, Not Coming to a Theater Near You

The film stands as an exemplar of its origin era, both undeniably bold and alienating. Full Review

August 13, 2008
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
August 10, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Geoff Andrew
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Click to read the article Full Review

Todd R. Ramlow
August 30, 2003
Todd R. Ramlow, PopMatters

Click to read the article Full Review

May 24, 2003
Film4

Click to read the article Full Review

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