The Cement Garden staring Charlotte Gainsbourg
The Cement Garden was based on Ian McEwan’s novel of the same name
The Cement Garden is a bizarre film almost surreal. The story revolves around a family with 4 children, and the tragedies they endure. Like the backyard “garden” cemented in, the dysfunctional family struggles in its development. Tragedies orphan the 4 siblings and they struggle to deal with things in each his own way.
The film is focused on the eldest boy Jack, who at 15 feels guilty for his father’s heart attack. He was supposed to be helping him re-cement the backyard, the Cement Garden. But he had snuck away to masturbate. In fact, this is largely a coming of age film for Jack (Andrew Robertson), who goes from a narcissistic masturbate ‘r to the male head of his household in a few short months. The shared responsibilities, and lack of adult supervision, turn his hormonal tendencies into an unhealthy obsession for his 17 year old sister Julie (Charlotte Gainsbourg).
The tension between the elder pair of siblings is typical at first. As when their mother takes ill, Julie finds herself strapped down with the full responsibilities of a housewife. Their mother prepares for a long hospital stay and warns Jack that he must help his sister keep her absence secret as the authorities would put his younger siblings, maybe him too, into protective and take the family home. When she dies before treatment, Jack and Julie hide her body in the basement, encased in the leftover cement meant for the Cement Garden.
The youngest brother Tom is only a first grader. He misses his mother so much that be begins a psychological spiral. This spiral starts with bullying, continues with cross-dressing and role playing and ends with him adopting infantile behaviors. This pseudo-sexuality is rarely seen or captured in such a young actor. But the Cement Garden is not your typical film. Tom was played by the director, Andrew Birkin’s own son Ned. And the family affair doesn’t end there, as the female lead, Charlotte Gainsbourg is the director’s niece.
