Cement Garden (The)
- Director: Andrew Birkin
- Writer: Andrew Birkin; Ian McEwan
- Producer: Bernd Eichinger; Bee Gilbert
CGiii Comment
A cross-dressing youngster - who happens to be the son of the director.
Gainsbourg - who happens to be the niece of the director - does her usual.
Incest, compulsive masturbation and a hideous house are the lynchpins in a film of a banal book - arguably, a film that shouldn't have been made. Horrible.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
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.
Cast & Characters
Andrew Robertson as Jack;
Charlotte Gainsbourg as Julie;
Alice Coulthard as Sue;
Ned Birkin as Tom;
Sinead Cusack as Mother;
Hanns Zischler as Father;
Jochen Horst as Derek,
Julie's Friend;
Gareth Brown as William;
William Hootkins as Commander Hunt;
Dick Flockhart as Truck Driver;
Mike Clark as Driver's Mate