The Cement Garden (1993)

Original Large Theatrical Movie Poster 1988 Cement Garden Cinema Film

 

The Cement Garden is a very well made film. It follows one English family as they try to deal with new bewildering events outside of their coping mechanisms. The story is a strange one. It is fascinating. This is paradise for voyeurs, armchair psychiatrists and flies that like to sit on walls.

Director Andrew Birkin – whose screenplays include The Name of the Rose (1986) and Perfume (2006) – brilliantly directs his film using a young cast which includes niece Charlotte Gainsbourg and son Ned Birkin. Gainsbourg and fellow lead Andrew Robertson are superb.

This is not a film for children. This is also not a film you want to watch with your parents… unless you love sharing very awkward cringeworthy moments.

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You can find more information on this British movie on Wikipedia and IMDb.

As always, we recommend you don’t ruin any surprises by reading spoilers or watching trailers. The following trailer gives away the most important plot twist in the film:

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Title: The Cement Garden (1993)

Language: English

Direction: Andrew Birkin

Screenplay: Andrew Birkin

Based on: The Cement Garden (1978) novel by Ian McEwan

Cinematography: Stephen Blackman

Editing: Toby Tremlett

Score: Ed Shearmur

Stars: Andrew Robertson, Charlotte Gainsbourg

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Full Acting Cast and Roles

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12 Comments

  1. Sure, tell me not to watch the trailer and then put it right there for me to watch! I couldn’t resist 🙂 The movie may be good but that might have been the worst trailer I’ve ever seen — I have no idea what it’s about except for giving away that one plot twist and it has actually made me want to AVOID seeing the film, now that I know 🙂

  2. hi I need some help about a film that I’ve seen probably 15 years ago and never since! don’t have a clue what’s the title or director. and that’s why I need help. the film goes like this: it’s black and white, french I think, there’s been some accident, maybe airplane crash, young girl and guy with mental retardation survived and they found themselves on some isolated island, with dry grass and bushes only on the surface, they find some wooden house, a cottage, by the beach, and they move in. the island is covered with snakes and mental retarded guy defends young girl from them. she writes a diary and eventualy gets pregnant with that guy. by the end of the film she gets some infection, a disease, malaria or something similar, and she dies. at the end the guy burns the house down to signalize if anyone would see the smoke and the flame anyway. is anybody familiar with this plot? oh yeah, great site by the way!

    1. I’ve tried to find something on the internet but I haven’t been successful. The closest I’ve got is The Blue Lagoon (1980) but it’s not French, it’s colour, and the story sounds different!

      1. Found the movie! It’s called L’enfant d’eau / Behind the Blue. 1995. Canadian actually, not French. And it’s not black and white. Check it out if you like

  3. I saw The Cenent Garden years ago and still remember it. A very odd film, yet I do still remember it well which does not happen often with most films.

  4. Probably they thought the trailer wasn’t much interesting, so did a bad mistake. But I’m sure there’s more to enjoy. I’ll check it out.

  5. hi shimky, i saw you have passed around my blog, so i was curious about yours too, i am a lot into films,the problem is that some of the films doesn´t have subtitles in spanish (my original language), however i´ll try to follow you. greeting sence colombia. write me if you want (lauyluitugeder@hotmail.com) sorry for my english buddy 🙂

  6. This film looks really good. I’ll go look for it. Have you ever seen Blind by Tamer Van Den Dop? I’ve been meaning to see it. Saw the trailer and was enthralled but so far….I haven’t been able to find it.

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