The Last of England (film)

The Last of England is a 1987 British arthouse film directed by Derek Jarman and starring Tilda Swinton.

The Last of England
Directed by	Derek Jarman
Written by	Derek Jarman
Produced by	James Mackay Don Boyd
Starring	Tilda Swinton Nigel Terry Jonathan Phillips Spencer Leigh Spring - Mark Adley
Narrated by	Nigel Terry
Cinematography	Derek Jarman, Christopher Hughes, Richard Heslop, Cerith Wyn Evans
Edited by	Derek Jarman, Peter Cartwright, Angus Cook
Music by	Simon Fisher Turner Andy Gill Marianne Faithfull Mayo Thompson Diamanda Galás Barry Adamson
Release dates	August 1987 (1987-08) (Edinburgh International Film Festival) 14 February 1988 (1988-02-14) (Berlin International Film Festival)
Running time	87 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	GBP£276,000

The Last of England, the painting from which the film derives its name

It is a poetic depiction of what Jarman felt was the loss of traditional English culture in the 1980s and his anger about Thatcher's England,^[1][2] including the formation of Section 28 Local Government Act.^[3] It is named after The Last of England, a painting by Ford Madox Brown.^[3]

One of the film's most famous scenes is of Tilda Swinton as a bride mourning her executed husband.^[1] The scene was shot near the director's home on the beach of Dungeness, Kent.^[3]

Jarman wrote a book, with the same title, to accompany the film.^[4]

Cast

• Tilda Swinton as The Maid
• Spencer Leigh as Soldier / Various roles
• 'Spring' Mark Adley as Spring / Various roles
• Gerrard McArthur as Various roles
• Jonny Phillips (credited as Jonathan Phillips) as Various roles
• Gay Gaynor as Various roles
• Matthew Hawkins as Junkyard Guy
• Nigel Terry as Narrator (voice)

Awards

Derek Jarman received the 1988 Teddy Award at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival for the film. And Tilda Swinton received the jury prize for her performance.^[5]

Reviews

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an average score of 68%, based on 3 reviews.^[6]

'What proof do you need the world's curling up like an autumn leaf?' wrote Time Out magazine.^[7]

David Bezanson wrote that the film is “graphic and disorienting, yet also totally trite".^[2]

Soundtrack album

Two versions of the soundtrack album were released on the Mute Records label. The LP has one side ("Bombers") by Simon Turner, and the other ("Diplomat") by a variety of performers, including Mayo Thompson with Albert Oehlen and Tilda Swinton; Andy Gill with Dean Garcia, Barry Adamson and Martin McCarrick, Brian Gulland and Diamanda Galas. The CD version includes all of this material and a third section, "Dead to the World", primarily by Turner.^{[citation needed]}