Sebastiane (Blu-ray)

Having been impressed by Derek Jarman’s ‘Caravaggio’ and also being aware of his earlier work as production designer on Ken Russell’s ‘The Devils’, I decided to work my way through Jarman’s films one by one, starting with this first film, ‘Sebastiane’ (1976). Despite being spoken in Latin with subtitles, I was well impressed with its naturalness and spontaneity. There are lots of shots that are of the moment where nothing is said. (But the effect of some of the poetic lines are lost in wooden delivery by certain actors.)It seems Jarman started as he meant to go on, with an unrestricted sexual atmosphere but without the bawdiness that can sometimes inhibit the grace that might be found in the films of Ken Russell. For instance, the opening scene (the only studio shot) features a party in the palace of the emperor Diocletian where a clownish male dancer is surrounded by others each bearing an extended phallus. We can laugh but Jarman refuses to ornament the scene further.Instead the rest of the film was shot on the island of Sardinia in the sunny Mediterranean, where Sebastiane (Leonardo Treviglio) has been exiled and where any lewdness is filmed in context and not exploited for effect. Near-naked and naked men practice their fighting in the sunshine; play in the waters; ride horses; lounge in the shade; lie in the sun; play discus on the beach; relax in the sauna. They kiss, cuddle, and cavort; they fight, hunt and sharpen their weapons. There is no grand production design here; rather, an easy naturalism. It must be one of the least intense movies in my DVD collection.Meanwhile, in contrast, Sebastiane the Christian is subjected to the cruel tortures of Severus (Barney James), the blond commanding officer of the small group of Roman soldiers posted to oversee the exiles. Sebastiane must also put up with the gibes of fellow-exile and bore, Max (Neil Kennedy), whose advances are refused.There is some arresting camerawork, such as the pastoral scene with Samid the goatherd or the mottled light of the sun reflected in the waves. And one scene in particular is striking: Sebastiane is still trussed up after having been flogged. The camera looks down over him in the darkening twilight so that we hardly see that he is there. Meanwhile pigs scavenge at his feet. Yet there is also some poor framing with heads of soldiers stationed on the tower cut off.My DVD has 4:3 perspective. Was it ever shot in widescreen? The final ten minutes featuring Sebastiane’s execution, the subject of so many beautiful works of art, would certainly have benefited from such an angle. But the film is certainly best seen more than once to fully appreciate Jarman’s film-making gifts.My disc has an extra, a wide-ranging forty-minute interview Jarman gave to Jeremy Isaacs in 1993. Despite being faced with some strange questions, Jarman is full of life and humour. Of ‘Sebastiane’, he thought it “a great muddle … a sort of exploration,” heavily reliant on the skills of others. Well, this “great muddle” is also a film of striking originality and boded well for the future.

Set in a Roman military outpost, the sun baked landscape and the sea creates an atmosphere in which the men form physical and sexual bonds. Their passionate relationships are full of male humour, obsession, romance and violence. At the centre of this whirlwind is the Captain of the guard, Severus, unable to articulate his sexuality, who is determined to make the young Christian soldier, Sebastian love him despite the young man's continual rejection.The versions available on DVD have oddly used a cropped version not showing a hardon for their releases. Whether be deliberate (the DVD has an 18 certificate) or just sheer laziness and ignorance about the film's original screen ratio, it is so.Sad to say, the definitive version has yet to make it to DVD. A future release deserves an original ratio, high definition restoration because this is a cult movie

The import blu ray is the uncensored version of this film but has no extras whatsoever (and is region A locked): the picture quality is limited by the original low budget film and the print is a bit dirty. The poor UK DVD is taken from an antiquated 1980s version shown on Channel 4. Apart from being a very poor video master by modern standards, Channel 4 reframed one scene to remove the notorious ‘excited’ male shot. So don’t blame the BBFC: they passed it uncensored when orignally submitted for cinema release.This is a very experimental film and as such has strengths and weaknesses. The opening Rome based scene is outrageous and successful before the ‘action’ moves to a desert location. Thereafter we are treated to some beautiful academy ratio photography and ambient music by Brian Eno. Unfortunately Derek Jarman’s ability to deliver a coherent narrative is poor. In one scene Sebastian is tied up and whipped severely and told he will not be released until he agrees to fight. The very next scene he is back with the rest of the men in their dorm having his back treated. Then the scene immediately after that has him outside with not a scratch on his recently whipped back! The film also gets bogged down in its homo eroticism with some scenes that seem to serve no real function save as male eye candy. It seems to be a film in search of a coherent script and better pacing: as it is its 85 minutes run time feels much longer. Jarman’s later version of ‘The Tempest’ is far better as he has a good story to work from and his obvious skills are allowed to be much more successfully displayed.

This was such a brave piece of cinematography. A strongly homoerotic storyline at a time when the Government just wanted us to disappear, plus the entire dialogue is in Latin. So, not exactly mainstream! The result is an amazing film which is as good now as it was then. Yes there are plot holes, and there is one stage (spoiler alert) where the lead character seems to recover overnight from a severe whipping without a mark on him, but this is about symbolism and eroticism as much as it is about telling a story. If you are new to Jarman's work this is probably a good one to start with.

Have played DVD Quality of picture,sound and sub title clarity good .Wiil buy further.

the intention is good and beautiful ; but a good intention is not a good movie ; this one has all the blunders of films from this period : he looks a quality "art et essai" but the actors do not play well, the scenario is low, there is no rhythm, the emotion aesthetic or erotic are absent, we do not believe the characters, it is impossible to believe their feelings ; this might evoke Pasolini, but where when he is least good ; that's a pity , it is a good subject that could have been treated well ; but, put back in its day it is a bold and courageous film, but the weakness of the form and the awkwardness of the actors and the setting stage do you feel that unfortunately most of boredom. Very characteristic is the first scene that wants to show a Roman orgy : it seems a sad party Saturday night in a small apartment in the suburbs. I am sorry to be, may be, so tough.

High quality from the old movie