The Cement Garden

Starring:Andrew Robertson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alice Coulthard, Ned Birkin, SinÃ©ad Cusack, Hanns Zischler, Jochen Horst, Gareth Brown, Dick Flockhart, Mike Clark (II)
Director: Andrew Birkin
Studio: New Yorker Video
Product Type: DVD

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A bizarre and compelling story of family secrets based on the novel by Ian McEwan (who also wrote the novel upon which The Comfort of Strangers is based), this British film tells the complex tale of four children who conspire to hide their dead mother's body to avoid being split apart and sent to an orphanage. Their deception works for a while, as they become a self-sufficient family unit. Soon, however, mistrust and a deeply antagonistic relationship between the older siblings rife with sexual overtones, as well as a snooping suitor with designs on the older sister, threaten to destroy their well-constructed facade. Adapted and directed by Andrew Birkin, this offbeat film is disturbing but a riveting find for anyone interested in new discoveries from the world of international film. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews:

Big Wow.......2006-12-04

Aspiring production designers and location scouts should take note of "The Cement Garden" (1993) as an example of especially good use of an available on-the-cheap location. Like the equally low-budget "Carnival of Souls", the film owes much of its effectiveness to the creative use of an available location. "The Cement Garden's" outdoor shots should look familiar as Stanley Kubrick used the location back in 1987 for the main battle sequence of "Full Metal Jacket". He used the abandoned Beckton Gasworks just across from the Royal Docks area (Beckton-Silverton London). The area has now been transformed into London City Airport.

As a film, "The Cement Garden" could best be described as pretentious (marked by an unwarranted claim to importance or distinction). It is a movie that tries embarrassingly hard to be more than the sum of its parts. The strategy is to introduce shocking and scandalous elements in such a casual way that it will amp up the effect of breaking taboos far beyond what they would otherwise merit. This too owes much to Kubrick (insert "Lolita" here).

"The Cement Garden" is what you would get if Gregg Araki remade "Our Mother's House" on a shoestring budget; although it is safe to say Araki would have done a much better job of acting for the camera direction. It is an adaptation of Ian McEwan's controversial novel, but as the adapting was done by Director Andrew Birkin (later to be blamed for "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" script), the result is likely to be disappointing to readers of McEwan's book.

I can't actually recommend the film although some viewers will enjoy and/or be shocked by it. It somehow manages to be both melodramatic and boring; I found viewing possible only in 20 minute segments (not so much because it was painful but because it was not involving enough for me to ignore household interruptions). Since the macabre elements aren't particularly shocking (just a couple of stylish "Blue Velvet" type shots), Birkin must fall back on incest and gender identity. It is one perversion too many and there is no logical connection between the two.

The story is about a family of six (mother, father, two daughters and two sons). The older son is meant to look like a girl, the older daughter is meant to look like a boy, and the younger son wants to be a girl. The mother's death occurs a few weeks after the father, and the children conceal her death in an effort to stay together.

The story is told from the point of view of the oldest boy, who is turned on by his own reflection and by his tease of an older sister. Since he looks so much more feminine than her, his sexual orientation may actually be straight. The younger sister (who is not involved in any of this) looks perfectly normal but spends a lot of time writing letters to her dead mother.

Like "Our Mother's House" (a far better film), an older man is inserted into the story in an effort to make something happen. While a little hard to decipher, the basic themes concern the problems associated with assuming responsibilities before you are emotionally mature enough for them.

In fairness, an attempt is made to insert an allegorical element into the film, as the older boy frequently does a voice-over reading of a science fiction story. This is meant to reflect his internal moral struggles but the connection with the events of the story is rather fuzzy. Not surprising since the weak direction builds neither suspense nor convincing characters. But at least there is that great production design.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

The book it ain't, but it has some redeeming qualities........2006-06-07

The Cement Garden (Andrew Birkin, 1993)

There's a book, and it seems that where there's a book, there's a movie. It is the case that at least ninety-five, some would say closer to ninety-nine percent of the time, the movie is just not as good as the book. I tend to be a bit more liberal than most in that regard, but in this case, while the movie's decent, it has nothing on McEwan's stunning first novel.

Jack (Gormenghast's Andrew Robertson), Julie (Charlotte Gainsbourg, soon to star in the highly anticipated Have Mercy on Us All, based on Fred Vargas' smash hit novel), Sue (Alice Coulthard, in her only screen appearance), and Tom (Ned Birkin, also in his only screen appearance) are four kids living in England. Their father (Munich's Hanns Zischler) dies of a heart attack, and soon after, their mother (Sinead Cusack, recently of V for Vendetta) becomes mysteriously ill. She knows she's dying, and attempts to do as much as she can to make sure the children can survive on their own after her death. The children attempt to do so, in a sort of Lord of the Flies meets The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane way, until Julie gets herself a beau, Derek (veteran TV actor Jochen Horst), which throws Jack-- whose feelings for Julie have become increasingly complex-- into a crisis.

The main difference between the novel and the film is that the kids' mother dies much earlier on in the novel than she does in the film, and so the whole thematic thrust of the novel is forced into roughly half the movie's hour and forty-five minute running time. There's not much chance to do much development there; Birkin chooses to content himself with abbreviating the development of the themes that are birthed when the children start living on their own, and develop those start while everyone's still living as a family. The result isn't a bad film, by any means, but those who have read the novel are likely to find it lacking. Still, there's something about Birkin stocking a film with incestuous undercurrents with his own nieces and nephews that cannot help but invite all sorts of speculation, and there's certainly something to be said for any film that shows off the gorgeous Charlotte Gainsbourg in all her glory. An interesting artifact, but no matter why you're watching it, you're likely to get more out of the book. ** ½

As Dark A Movie As You'll See.......2006-03-23

Based on Ian McEwan's fine novel by the same name, CEMENT GARDEN is the tale of four children who are orphaned twice in rapid succession by the deaths of their father and mother. The film catches the sheer horror of children's having to deal with the deaths of parents and of their attempts to somehow carry on with their lives. The photgraphy captures the bleakness of both the home the children inhabit as well as the urban environment around them.

The acting by the youngsters is really quite remarkable. The plot follows very closely McEwan's novel. On the other hand, this great novelist's works seem-- at least to me-- to be almost untranslatable to any other medium, certainly not the fault of the director. What I would never have gleaned from this movie because of the dialogue that is often incomprehensible, had I not previously read the novel, is why these children do what they do with their mother's body. That is totally necessary for understanding the movie and a major flaw.

Haunting adaptation.......2006-02-04

From the opening shots I was mesmerised by this superb adaptation of Ian Mcewans first novel. Dreamy visuals, a haunting soundtrack and near perfect perfomances from the entire cast succeed in bringing to life Mcewan's story as the eerie fable he surely intended it to be but which even his prose could not quite fully capture on the printed page. The recurrent theme in his fiction of the tragic gap between idealism and reality has never been told with more elegance and beauty than here, a perfect little gem of british cinema.

A Dark Story of Human Warmth.......2005-10-18

The Cement Garden is the story of a family transformed by tragedy. When the single mother of four children dies, her death is kept secret by the children. The children fear the prospect of being divided and forced into the homes of strangers. The children begin enjoying new freedoms and some of the quieter aspects of each sibling begin to surface and change their small world. The story is haunting and beautiful and takes us into a realm beyond taboos and social norms. The characters in this story have to survive poverty and loss. They manage to remain gentle with one another in the midst of hardship. The movie climaxes in a dark and erotic bliss that expresses a vision of man against the world. This is a great film that blurs the line between innocence and vice. The performances are top notch and the story is engaging. I highly recommend it for anyone willing to stray a bit off the beaten path.

Average customer rating:

Big Wow
The book it ain't, but it has some redeeming qualities.
As Dark A Movie As You'll See
Haunting adaptation
A Dark Story of Human Warmth

The Cement Garden [Region 2]
Starring: Andrew Robertson , Charlotte Gainsbourg , Alice Coulthard , Ned Birkin , and Sinéad Cusack
Director: Andrew Birkin
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00006423A

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Customer Reviews:

Big Wow.......2006-12-04

The book it ain't, but it has some redeeming qualities........2006-06-07

As Dark A Movie As You'll See.......2006-03-23

Haunting adaptation.......2006-02-04

A Dark Story of Human Warmth.......2005-10-18

The Cement Garden [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - France ]

Average customer rating:

The Cement Garden [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - France ]
Director: Andrew Birkin
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

France released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: o French (subtitles) o English (Dolby Digital 5.1) Synopsis: After the death of her husband, the mother of Julie, Jack, Sue and Tom begins to suffer from a mysterious illness. Aware that she is going to have to go into hospital she opens a bank account for the children, so that they can be financially self-sufficient and will be able to avoid being taken into care by the authorities. Unfortunately she also dies and Julie and Jack (the older, teenage children) decide to hide her body in the basement so that they can have free reign of their household. Soon Tom has taken to dressing as a girl whilst Sue has become increasingly reticent, confiding only to her diary, meanwhile Jack and Julie sense an attraction developing for each other. However Julie's new beau, Derek, threatens to unearth the many dark secrets within this family as he becomes increasingly suspicious of Jack. Special Features: o Cast/Crew Interview(s) o Commentary o Filmographies o Interactive Menu o Scene Access o Trailer(s)

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