The Garden

When Derek Jarman, the director of globally renowned titles such as Caravaggio (1986) and The Tempest (1979), was told he was HIV-positive in 1988, he did not give up filming. Some five feature films and a plethora of music videos (Pet Shop Boys) followed with The Garden as one of the most personal films in Jarman’s oeuvre.

The Garden with Tilda Swinton as its lead has been described as a ‘kaleidoscopic edit of images from dreams’.

Commitment and gardening

As an experimental filmmaker and artist, Jarman created a succession of images instead of a classic narrative with the former bearing witness to his commitment to gay rights and his fascination with iconic religious figures such as Jezus, Judas and the Madonna. The footage also deals with the Church of England and its witch hunt for homosexuals, the suffering, the shame and Jarman’s unconditional love of gardening as a source of life force.

The 16 mm and Super8 footage in yellow, red and blue Kodak colours of unparalleled beauty were shot both by Jarman and by a close-knit group of friends the director surrounded himself with. Some of it reveals the physically run down filmmaker, amid the roses, working on his garden along the seashore in Kent. “They died so silently. We died so silently. I died so silently.” An exceptional film that leaves a lasting impression.

2K digital restoration from the negative by BFI

Preceded by

Preceding The Garden, Fleurs des champs (Gaston Velle, 1904 - 1912, 3’), a short French film that starts out as a nature documentary, yet soon transitions into an imaginative dance film. Personally selected by Tilda Swinton, who picked a short film from her own filmography or Eye’s collection to precede the feature film.