Sex, drugs and punk rock. Add violence and time travel and you have Jubilee.
"And the world's your oyster, so swallow it."
— Crabs
Jubilee was a 1978 film by Derek Jarman, starring Jordan (born Pamela Rooke), Nell Campbell and Adam Ant.
Queen Elizabeth I asks her court physician, John Dee, to show her what England will be like in the future, with the air spirit Ariel from The Tempest acting as their guide. The resulting spell propels them 400 years into the future, however, they find that England has turned into a wasteland riddled by vicious girl gangs and a demented record producer.
This film contains examples of:
- Badass Boast: Borgia Ginz has one which is pretty damn good. His performance has to be seen to be believed.You wanna know my story, babe? It's easy. This is the generation which grew up and forgot to lead their lives. They were so busy watching my endless movie. Haha. It's power babe, power. I don't create it, I own it. I sucked and sucked and I sucked. The media became their only reality and I own their world of flickering shadows. BBC, TUC, ITV, ABC, ATV, MGM, KGB, C. of E. You name it, I bought them all... and rearranged the alphabet. Without me, they don't exist! <cue evil laugh>
- Bald of Evil: Borgia Ginz is as bald as the day he was born.
- Camp Gay: Jack Birkett as Borgia Ginz goes above and beyond any gay character in this film. He was also blind, which made his movements even more grand.
- Celebrity Casualty: The film takes place in an alternate timeline where Queen Elizabeth II was killed by muggers in the late seventies. The real Queen Elizabeth II lived until 2022.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Borgia Ginz is one who rules the world (at least in his mind).
- Crapsack World: Future England is a hellhole in which girl gangs roam the streets and slaughter people with near-impunity and most of the good real estate is owned by a maniacal record producer.
- Dropped-in Speech Clip: A sample from one of Adolf Hitler's speeches plays during the bridge of Amyl Nitrate's "Rule Britannia" musical number.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Queen Elizabeth's future reincarnation is Bod, a vicious psychopath.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: With the educational system having become nonexistent, Amyl Nitrate is attempting to compile a new history. She muses that with so few people left to contest her account, she could easily turn Adolf Hitler into a hero and Winston Churchill into a villain if she wanted to.
- Incest Subtext: The twins Angel and Sphinx are extremely close.
- Laughably Evil: Borgia Ginz, again, is this.
- Little People Are Surreal: The first shot of the movie is a little person leading Queen Elizabeth's dogs around the palace grounds. She's barely taller than the dogs are.
- Male Frontal Nudity: One of the people watching Amyl Nitrate's "ballet dancing" (outside, around a bonfire) is a man wearing nothing but a Greek drama mask.
- New Media Are Evil: The Punk variation. The modern media has destroyed the minds of the youth due to its complete absence of content.
- Out with a Bang: Bod and Mad kill one of Crabs' paramours just before he reaches orgasm, because Crabs is too stupid to take birth control and they don't need a pregnant girl in their gang.
- Punk Rock: It's in the tagline for the movie, plus Adam Ant's musical performance.
- Really Gets Around: Crabs got her name for a reason...
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: Bod. In an extended scene early on, she’s eating breakfast cereal while wearing nothing but Queen Elizabeth II’s crown. Justified in that she’s not really interested in sex and so wearing clothes or not wearing clothes makes little difference to her.
- Shout-Out: In her opening speech, Amyl Nitrate tells us that her favorite song is "Don't Dream It, Be It", a song that was written for The Rocky Horror Show by co-star Richard O'Brien, who plays court magician John Dee.
- Too Dumb to Live: Crabs seems to be mostly oblivious to anything that's going on around her unless there's sex involved.
- Too Kinky to Torture: At one point, Mad carves up Bod's back and pours salt in the wounds. Bod rewards her with a kiss.
- Trashcan Bonfire: This film varies the trope by showing a bonfire in a baby carriage to underline the idea of a nightmarish, dystopian Britain.
