THE LAST OF ENGLAND   1987 Directed by Derek Jarman 88 minutes In English

Derek Jarman made several different kinds of films, both straight narrative (Caravaggio) and more poetic/expressionistic films. Of his more expressionistic films, this is the one that he will probably be remembered for. Shooting freely in video, super 8, 16mm, and 35mm, he creates a montage of his own fantastical and mythological universe. You have to put this film in the same general category as Tarkovsky's more poetic works, but in a British context.

In this uncompromising film, which is a poetic tour-de-force, there is no real dialogue, just a haunting narration,music, sound, and fiery images. If there is a single theme running through it, it's an apocalyptic vision of the future of England, told from a very subjective and artistic viewpoint. The England depicted in this film is still war-torn, and worse, it is an England which is tearing itself apart. For me, it's actually a hallucinatory vision of what our modern life will look like if everything suddenly collapses, perhaps starting with our economy.....

Because this is a non-narrative movie, which makes it closer to a moving painting than a novel, it's not exactly an easy film to watch, but it is incredibly powerful, evocative and visually stunning, and images from it will burn long afterwards in your memory. Starring Tilda Swinton.

This will be a furious high-definition screening.