The Cement Garden (film)
| The Cement Garden | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Andrew Birkin |
| Produced by |
Bee Gilbert Ene Vanaveski |
| Written by | Andrew Birkin Ian McEwan |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Edward Shearmur |
| Cinematography | Stephen Blackman |
| Edited by | Toby Tremlett |
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Release date
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Running time
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105 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Cement Garden is a 1993 British drama film directed by Andrew Birkin. It is based on the 1978 novel of the same name written by Ian McEwan. It was entered into the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival, where Birkin won the Silver Bear for Best Director.
The film begins with Jack, a narcissistic 15-year-old boy, helping his father, a smoker with a persistent cough, unload large bags of cement to resurface the garden path of their post-war era prefab house. Despite being told to come straight home from school to help with the work the next day, Jack stops by the remains of a torn-down prefab to smoke a cigarette and read a pornographic magazine he has hidden there. When he comes home, he excuses himself to go to the toilet, where he proceeds to masturbate. As he is doing so, his father collapses from a heart attack and dies.
A few months after the tragedy, Jack's mother and his siblings – 17-year-old Julie, 13-year-old Sue and 6-year-old Tom – are still mourning, and Jack has become apathetic to the feelings of his family, while also neglecting to wash. Jack's mother is taken ill and becomes bedridden and frail, forcing Jack and Julie to take control of the household. Jack's selfishness soon leads to conflict between him and his older sister. When he attempts to remedy the tension between them by sneaking into her room and teases that she's alone and unprotected before he tickles her sides with bee-suit gloves until he accidentally causes her to orgasm, although he attempts to cover this up from his siblings. Shortly after this, the family celebrates Jack's 16th birthday in their mother's bedroom. He is reluctant to contribute to the small party by singing, but when Julie does a handstand, Jack stares at her underwear, then shares an intimate moment with her by singing Greensleeves. Although the rest of the family assume they are having fun, Julie recognises what he is doing, and plays along. This, along with another incident wherein Julie, while sunbathing in the garden, persuades Jack to rub suncreen into her back, intensifies what was initially a small affection for her into an incestuous crush. Jack soon finds himself escorting Sue and Tom to and from school, and defending Tom from a school bully, while Julie takes up the cooking and cleaning duties.
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