THE CEMENT GARDEN   1993 Directed by Andrew Birkin 105 minutes In English
 
Transgression isn't very 'in' these days, but there was a time when many people felt society was way too uptight, and if it wasn't so straight then everything would be radically different... that many of the things we consider taboo are holding back passions, creativity and personal liberation. The only aspect of this spirit left today is maybe the transgender movement... but in this film transgression has a wider scope. This is a film about dark secrets, and focuses on an isolated family living in a cheap prefab house surrounded by a landscape of concrete and rubble. The father isn't present and the mother is slowly dying. When the mother finally passes away, the children tell no one, and are left to live their own lives.
 
Based on the controversial book by Ian McEwan and starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, this off-beat flick enters some pretty wild areas areas - but never in a sensationalist way, instead it has a strange kind of low-key poetry to it. If the film does provide a shock, it is a low-depth rumble that disrupts things deep below the surface. The movie is especially haunting when seen today, because it seems no one is able to totally disconnect from the mainstream society like these kids do... largely because it was before computers or smartphones! In fact if you want to experience what life was like before this globalized age, then try to tap into the sublime, unrushed, crystal-clear mood of this film.
 
Family is important in The Cement Garden, not just because the central institution that is portrayed in the film, but also because many of those involved in the production were actual relatives. Two of the main actors, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Ned Birkin, are cousins in real life, and the director Andrew Birkin is Charlotte's uncle. In this age of hyper-commercialized cinema maybe it's refreshing to get away from all the marketing, and see something more sombre, gutsy and revealing, that also goes into some uncomfortable areas. The Cement Garden won the Silver Bear in Berlin for best direction.