A suburban gloss on Lord of the Flies, this beautifully lensed adaptation of Ian McEwan's chilling novel about adolescent raging hormones and teen alienation stars Andrew Robertson as onanistic Jack, and Charlotte Gainsbourg as pouty Julie, siblings who assume the role of parental units when their parents die. Writing about the video release in VL-3/97, I called this "a twisted tale to be sure, [but] writer/director Andrew Birkin's [film] is still a powerful portrait of teen psychology, and is strongly recommended for more adventurous collections." While the DVD offers little in the way of extras, this is still recommended, especially for those without the VHS version. (R. Pitman)
The Cement Garden
New Yorker, 105 min., not rated, $29.95 Vol. 15, Issue 6
The Cement Garden
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: