Sebastiane

Starring:Barney James, Neil Kennedy, Leonardo Treviglio, Richard Warwick, Donald Dunham, Daevid Finbar, Ken Hicks, Lindsay Kemp, Steffano Massari, Janusz Romanov, Jordan (III), Charlotte Barnes, Eric Roberts (IX), Philip Sayer, Norman Rosenthal, Duggie Fields, Ulla Larson-Styles, Patricia Quinn, Guy Ford, Gerald Incandela
Director: Paul Humfress, Derek Jarman
Studio: Kino Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Very Dissapointed!
Feast for the eyes............
Strange, massively homoerotic, serene...
Deliciously obscene
Dieux du Stade

Sebastiane
Starring: Barney James , Neil Kennedy , Leonardo Treviglio , Richard Warwick , and Donald Dunham
Director: Derek Jarman , and Paul Humfress
Manufacturer: Kino Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Edward II
Shortbus (Unrated Edition)
Pink Narcissus
Mysterious Skin (Deluxe Unrated Director's Edition)
Dante's Cove

ASIN: B000092T59
Release Date: 2003-05-13

Customer Reviews:

Very Dissapointed!.......2007-02-02

I was very disappointed with this film. It definitely had a more "art house" feel to it than I was expecting - and like happens with many art house films Sebastiane is light on plot and character development and heavy on scenery shots, bad string music and slow motion nude shots (but, alas, not even erotic ones).

The real story of Sebastiane is a fascinating one. How does such a man transform into the much beloved St. Sebastiane of the Catholic church? Well, don't expect this movie to tell you. There is, as mentioned above, no character development. We are given an off-handed explanation that Sebastiane's faith (Christianity) was the cause of his eventual execution - but any scenes of faith are oddly intertwined with a lot of Roman flavored philosophical ideas - references to Roman gods and so forth. Very un-Catholic. So while we know that it was Sebastiane's faith that lead to his execution, this "plot line" is really dulled down, to the point that there is no plot.

The other men on the island are nothing more than pretty bodies to look at, their characters do not get developed at all. (the interaction/conflict between Sebastiane and the Roman guard could have been so much more interesting and potent if Jarman had fleshed out that character a little more)

Also, disappointing was that the eroticism of this film falls miserably flat. Now I realize that I am a female and this is a gay movie, but I would like to think that I am as aroused by sexy, nude men as much as any gay man would be. Well, I was not aroused. There are plenty of shots of nude men, but the way that Jarman shot the film is so stylized and stiff, that it takes all the eroticism out of it. I watched a slow motion scene of two nude men splashing in the surf and all I could think was "gay men are actually turned on by this??!"

Well this straight woman was bored about half-way through the movie. So my advice is don't buy this movie for it's story line or it's erotic value - there is none of either.

Feast for the eyes...................2006-07-26

.............but not, so much, for the mind.

DON'T MISUNDERSTAND,
this is a great film, but honestly speaking, I think this film is most notable simply as being a single product of
Derek Jarman's genius; not as being a distinctive masterwork, in itself. If you want to speak in terms
of advancement/positive representation in homosexually themed art,
this is the gold star winner. Otherwise, the visuals are the only thing that makes this movie noteworthy.

Jarman's Sebastiane is a genuine visual delight. Within this film lies a
remarkable portrait of the masculine condition (strength, weakness, beauty, intimidation, domination). The brute masculinity of the soldiers is smartly juxtaposed with the arid harshess of the desert in which they are exiled. As men void of females, they are like any other lifeform that is subjected
to the extremes of the desert: survive on what is provided or perish therein.

This lofty theme, however, is undermined by poor acting,
questionable historical references, and latin pronunciation (OH MY GOD, THE LATIN!!) that sounds like a Pig Latin translation
of a Shakespeare manuscript (my latin professor would have
gone into cardiac arrest after 2 minutes).

HOWEVER (!!!!)............................

NONE OF THIS takes away from the brilliance of this film. I actually believe this is one of the most beautiful films
ever made. There is surgical dilligence applied to the cinematography. Panoramic sweeps and simple elements like
close-ups of insects are used to give this movie a smooth, lyrical, and almost hallucinagenic effect.

But be aware,
this film is strictly for visual pleasure: the bodies, the desert panorama, etc. Any desire you may have for anything more profound will certainly go disappointed. A zealous attempt
was made to produce an intelligent film, but it failed in
delivery.This movie is a brilliant example of Jarman's sense of art.
It is not his best work, but at the same time, it is pleasing to watch.

Highly recommendable.

Strange, massively homoerotic, serene..........2006-07-12

This was Derek Jarman's debut films (technically, he co-directed with Paul Humfress, but Humfress was really just there to keep things going if Jarman screwed up...luckily, he didn't). It's actually Jarman's most homoerotic movie. The dialogue is in Latin (a first...eat your heart out, Passion of the Christ fans), and it was street Latin, not proper Latin. Jarman was very specific about the speech because these soldiers were ruffians; they wouldn't be speaking the queen's Latin, so to speak. Many have found the famous painting of St. Sebastiane (which Jarman recreates at the end of the film) very homoerotic, so Jarman indulges quite freely in the erotic aspects of the story. The film has a mythic sheen to it, and it is a film you will never forget. The opening scene at the Roman orgy is very memorable. Jarman started out as Ken Russell's production designer, and this orgy scene seems a homage to him. Brian Eno's music really gives the film an another world feel. NOT for the easily offended. There are massive amounts of male nudity here, but it's shown as natural, which it is. Essential viewing for Jarman fans (or which I include myself).

Deliciously obscene.......2006-04-24

After my initial dissapointment with Jarman's second film 'Jubilee', I was a bit hesitant to watch 'Sebastiane' but I'm glad I did because it shed some light on the nature and capabilities of this stage of Jarman's career - he was ambitious, bold, and very resourcefull - this is one of the finest low budget productions I have seen. This is the story of Sebastiane the man who died for his christian beliefs - but in this adaptation the focus is more on the homosexual tendencies of Roman military - it is almost a study in contrast the repression and solitiude of Sebastiane against the indulgences and vulgarity of Rome. There is also a beautiful soundtrack by Brian Eno.

Dieux du Stade .......2006-01-22

Derek Jarman's 'Sebastiane' is a momentous painting which is simply brushed on film rather than canvas. This is a master work and should be in any serious film buff's cabinet. (I should very much like to see it running continuously upon a smooth stone wall of a monumental pillared vestibule - perhaps like the Four Seasons in New York. It's visual beauty should be constantly on view.

Not one element could be added or deleted. If I may continue the painting analogy, each stroke, whether finished or raw melds this work into a composition which I think is flawless. The men are beautiful, but in a tangible human manner. The settings, whether Diocletian's startling lurid palace or the rough bare terrain of Sardinia evoke both pagan and Christian motifs flawlessly. Good and evil (and all shades between) found in both places; the irony of the world as it is and has always been.

The homoerotic nature of the film is vicseral, candid rather than overtly condescending - it might well be set in modrn Iraq with 21st century troops. I felt each character's longings, whether for the god of carnal flesh or that of human love and companionship or a spiritual and other worldly deity. The recognituion that each of these forms of eros may entertwine and meld is genious. It is Everyman. It is a scrupulus portrait of the easily duplicit qualities of beauty, deceipt, brutality and even truth. Powerful stuff.

Sebastiane [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]

Average customer rating:

Sebastiane [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]
Director: Derek Jarman
Manufacturer: Siren Visual
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Australia released, PAL/Region 4 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 Latin (Dolby Digital 2.0) o English (subtitles) Synopsis: 300 A.D. : the Roman Sebastianus is exiled to a remote outpost populated exclusively by men. Weakened by their desires, these men turn to homosexual activities to satisfy their needs. However, Sebastianus becomes the target of lust for a homosexual centurion, but he rejects the man's advances. Descibed as The Gone with the Wind of homoerotic fantasies. - Filmed entirely in vulgar Latin, this experimental, homocentric film recounts the life of Sebastiane, a puritanical but beautiful Christian soldier in the Roman Imperial troops who is martyred when he refuses the homosexual advances of his pagan captain. Some might find the frequent use of full frontal male nudity offensive. This is the only English-made film released in England to have required English subtitles, and it is an early film by the noted experimental and outspokenly homosexual director Derek Jarman, who died in 1994.

Average customer rating:

Very Dissapointed!
Feast for the eyes............
Strange, massively homoerotic, serene...
Deliciously obscene
Dieux du Stade

Sebastiane
Starring: Barney James , Neil Kennedy , Leonardo Treviglio , Richard Warwick , and Donald Dunham
Director: Derek Jarman , and Paul Humfress
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Edward II
Shortbus (Unrated Edition)
Pink Narcissus
Mysterious Skin (Deluxe Unrated Director's Edition)
Dante's Cove

ASIN: B00005JI0R

Customer Reviews:

Very Dissapointed!.......2007-02-02

Feast for the eyes...................2006-07-26

Strange, massively homoerotic, serene..........2006-07-12

Deliciously obscene.......2006-04-24

Dieux du Stade .......2006-01-22

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