The Cement Garden

Portrait of four siblings who, following the deaths of their parents, indulge their desires. Andrew Robertson, Charlotte Gainsbourg. Sue: Alice Coulthard. Tom: Ned Birkin. Mother: Sinead Cusack. Father: Hanns Zischler. Derek: Jochen Horst. Written and directed by Andrew Birkin., A dark tale of loss of innocence and incest, based on Ian McEwan’s novel. Four siblings bury their mum in the cellar and continue as normal… for a while., Siblings Charlotte Gainsbourg, Andrew Robertson, Alice Coulthard and Ned Birkin are orphans. Their father died of a heart attack while their mother (Sinead Cusack) took to her bed and wasted away. Telling no-one, they live quietly, surviving on Cusack’s bank account but, without parental supervision, hidden desires surface and are indulged in Andrew Birkin’s stark coming-of-age drama, based on Ian McEwan’s novel., Ian McEwan’s disturbing novel is given a chilly shimmer in this film adaptation by Andrew Birkin. The film takes place in a concrete slab of a house situated on the outskirts of an English town. The father (Hanns Zischer) is a consumptive creep, while the mother (Sinead Cusack) is a sweet and understanding matriarch. When the father dies of a heart attack after his garden is paved over, it is too much for the mother to bear, and after a few weeks she wastes away and also dies. This leaves the children to fend for themselves. The eldest sister and brother, Julie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and Jack (Andrew Robertson), have to care for the younger children, Sue (Alice Coultard) and Tom (Ned Birkin). Without parental supervision, the four children give themselves up to their secret longings. Jack hides in corners to masturbate, but Julie uses her sexual attraction to lure Jack into an incestuous relationship. Even the younger children have their problems: Sue is mostly mute and spends all her time obsessively writing in her journal, while Tom feels that deep inside himself he is a girl trapped in a boy’s body. The children hide the mother’s remains in the basement and live off her bank account. The neighbors don’t suspect a thing –that is until sleazy Derek (Jochen Horst) begins to come around in his red convertible, trying to get a date with Julie., Ian McEwan’s disturbing novel is given a chilly shimmer in this film adaptation by Andrew Birkin. The film takes place in a concrete slab of a house situated on the outskirts of an English town. The father is a ill, odd and creepy, while the mother is a sweet and understanding matriarch. When the father dies of a heart attack after his garden is paved over, it is too much for the mother to bear, and after a few weeks she wastes away and also dies. This leaves the children to fend for themselves, as they decide to keep the deaths a secret, in order to avoid being separated and taken into care. The eldest sister and brother, Julie and Jack have to care for the younger children, Sue and Tom . Without parental supervision, the four children give themselves up to their secret longings. Jack hides in corners to masturbate, but Julie uses her sexual attraction to lure Jack into an incestuous relationship. Even the younger children have their problems: Sue is mostly mute and spends all her time obsessively writing in her journal, while Tom feels that deep inside himself he is a girl trapped in a boy’s body. The children hide the mother’s remains in the basement and live off her bank account. The neighbors don’t suspect a thing –that is until sleazy Derek (Jochen Horst) begins to come around in his red convertible, trying to get a date with Julie.