Product Description

A sensuous lushly photographed homoerotic vision of the tragedy of st sebastiane is filled with scintillating images of male bodies & graphic scenes of sex. Studio: Kino International Release Date: 05/13/2003 Run time: 85 minutes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34425 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-05-13
• Rating: X (Mature Audiences Only)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Spanish
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Customer Reviews

Extraordinary, complex, deeply-felt
In Sebastiane (1976), British writer/directors Derek Jarman (this was his first feature) and Paul Humfress created a remarkable historical film and a landmark of gay cinema. It depicts the martyred fourth century Roman soldier, who was later both canonized as Saint Sebastian and revered as an enduring gay icon. The film strikingly balances a cinéma vérité depiction of the everyday life of common soldiers and a visionary exploration of one man's defiant growth in faith, even as it subtly questions the nature of that experience. Despite its microscopic budget, it is a remarkably well designed, shot, edited, scored (Brian Eno's first film music), and acted picture. The Kino DVD transfer is very good, especially considering that the picture was originally shot in 16mm, then blown up to 35mm.

The film takes some liberties with the historical/legendary Sebastian, who was never exiled to a remote outpost, and incredibly who was supposed not to have died from the arrows with which he was famously shot - how Emperor Diocletian ordered him killed, and how the film ends - but rather from a second execution when he was clubbed to death. Although the film works brilliantly on many levels - cinematic, psychological, spiritual, aesthetic, even political - what may strike you first is the vividness and authenticity of the ancient world it depicts. Despite an over-the-top prologue at the glitteringly decadent court of Diocletian, and its strategic use of famous Renaissance paintings of St. Sebastian (by Mantegna, Reni, etc.) in the final scene, this film feels like lived experience.

Shot on location in Sardinia, every well-worn costume and dusty prop seems genuine. The dialogue is in the rough "street Latin" of its day (with English subtitles), but rather than feeling gimmicky it helps capture the texture of these nine banished soldiers' daily life. Its realism is in striking contrast to big-budget "sword and sandal" epics, from the Silent Era to the recent Gladiator, which always look too manufactured. In fact, its stylistic roots are more in the hyper-real mythic films of Pasolini, like Oedipus Rex and Medea.

From stills, you might think that the cast was chosen for their sculpted bodies. But each of these actors, even those in supporting roles, fully inhabits their characters and brings them to life. In particular, Leonardo Treviglio (seen most recently in Julie Taymor's film Titus) gives an intensely restrained, brilliantly nuanced performance in the title role. The constant ribbing and roughhousing among these nine men provides not only verisimilitude, but energy and unpretentiousness.

That is especially important, because the film deals with some dauntingly complex themes, as important now as 1,700 years ago, including the meaning of spirituality, the place of sexuality in life, and the contradictory nature of reality. The film's wild streak of humor, and its breathtaking visual design, help to keep this profoundly serious work from overdosing on "heaviosity."

The thematic core, as expected in a work about a man on the road to sainthood, is spirituality; and few films, including self-styled "religious movies," let one feel so deeply the growing importance of faith to an individual. Even some of the translated dialogue is beautiful, as when Sebastian, gazing at his and the sky's reflection in a pool of water, says that divinity is "That beauty that made all colors different.... The heavens and earth are united in gold." But while that vision of faith is powerful, it also has many layers, some of which are provocatively ambiguous. For some viewers, a central question will be: Is Sebastian a true Christian or is he a syncretist grafting his personal version of the new religion onto much older, Greco-Roman roots? The film offers different possible answers, not as a dodge, but because the film realizes how multi-faceted religious experience is, growing out of social, personal, and spiritual contexts.

It is also a landmark in the history of gay-themed films. Not only is this an authentic-seeming depiction of the ancient world, it is one in which a person's sexual orientation is not at all an issue. The guys jibe each other equally about their interest in Vestal Virgins, famous female prostitutes, and other men. In addition to this still-refreshing "backgrounding" of sexual orientation, the film depicts some of the most genuinely sweet and loving moments of any gay-themed film up to that time, especially in the budding relationship of the minor characters Adrian (whom the men tease about being a virgin) and Anthony.

And Sebastian's sadistically lovelorn nemesis, Captain Severus, is much more than a traditional "homosexual heavy," like the diabolical Claggart in Billy Budd. Severus (played by Barney James) has psychological depth, and seems to be equally divided between raw lust and genuine love for Sebastian. The film also takes a complex approach to him. For instance, the most visually beautiful and tender images of men are entirely from Severus's POV. And during the pivotal seduction scene near the end, Severus is shown as both monstrously brutal and beautiful, his hair ringed with golden light. That is exactly how Sebastian describes his vision of God, earlier in the film.

This is an exceptional film, deeply-felt, beautiful, and complex.

An homage to male beauty
Derek Jarman's first film (made in 1976) is a visually gorgeous film featuring an all male cast in various states of undress. Even if you are not interested in debating whether or not the film truly follows the real life of St. Sebastiane or what views of religion Jarman is trying to project, you can appreciate the film for its unique visual style and celebration of the male body. Here we have gorgeous tanned ripped males running around the desolute landscape in nothing but sandals and thongs (and sometimes nothing at all). The camera in slow motion captures them bathing, frolicing in the surf, riding horses, fighting and making love. This is a highly sensuous film, sometimes violent but often tender and not for those offended by homoerotica. The dialog is in Latin with English subtitles but the dialog on the whole is minimal. The only extra features on the dvd include a brief narrative text about Jarman's life and his filmography. The picture quality is superb.

Strange, massively homoerotic, serene...
This was Derek Jarman's debut film, which he co-directed with Paul Humfress, who was a director at the BBC and was there to assist Jarman in case there were any problems (there were none). It's actually Jarman's most homoerotic movie. The dialogue is in Latin, and it was street Latin (or "dog" Latin), not proper Latin. Jarman was very specific about the speech because these soldiers were ruffians; they wouldn't be speaking the queen's Latin, so to speak. Many have found the famous painting of St. Sebastiane (which Jarman recreates at the end of the film) very homoerotic (Yukio Mishima famously said that it gave him an erection the first time he saw it), so Jarman indulges quite freely in the erotic aspects of the story. The film has a mythic sheen to it, and it is a film you will never forget. The opening scene at the Roman orgy is very memorable. Jarman started out as Ken Russell's production designer, and this orgy scene seems a homage to him. Brian Eno's eerie, electronic music (reminiscent of his ambient albums, like Music for Airports) really gives the film an another world feel.

This film is NOT for the easily offended. There are massive amounts of male nudity here, but it's shown as natural, which it is. Essential viewing for Jarman fans (or which I include myself).