Oh, ugh, no. The War Zone isn't anything like Cement Garden. The only two things those movies share is the incest theme. I can't think of any films with an incest theme that is similar to this movie. Incest really isn't central to the plot of this movie, whereas it tends to dominate other films that contain the subject. I'm not saying that incest isn't important to the plot of Cement Garden, but it isn't the central theme and it plays a very unique role in this movie that you don't see much elsewhere.
In this movie, the incest is a "Lord of the Flies'-esque response to the children's parents dying. The eldest siblings assume the role of mother and father to retain cohesiveness in the remaining family. It isn't presented as erotic, but more a choice each make to take a proactive role in their environment. In a helpless situation, they attempt to take control by replacing their mom and dad and soldiering on. It is also a commentary on society, its values and mores and the dissemination of said to children, how that is taught and handed down.
The only film I can think of that has a similar usage of incest is perhaps Flowers in the Attic, although they are VERY different movies, and Cement Garden is a fine film while Flowers is camp trash. However, in both films the eldest children are thrust into the role of parents to keep some semblance of family and to take care of the younger siblings.
Films that include the theme of incest that are also very good films are scarce, but they do exist. I have addressed this topic elsewhere, in another forum, but here is a quick list of good films (some are very good) that contain (on some level) the theme of incest:
Lone Star
The Hotel New Hampshire
The Royal Tenenbaums
Chinatown
The Two Jakes
The Shipping News
The Weight of Water
Little Boy Blue
The Cider House Rules
Forrest Gump
La Luna
The War Zone
Lolita
Jude
The Ballad of Jack and Rose
Close My Eyes
Angels and Insects
Miss Firecracker
Sister My Sister
Gladiator
The Gift
Mists of Avalon
Bastard Out of Carolina
D.O.A. (so sue me, I like 80's thrillers)
The Sweet hereafter
Heart of the Stag
Voyager (Homo Faber)
Blood
The King
Der Kuß meiner Schwester
2:37
Chacun sa nuit
The Dreamers
Geminis (2005)
La Coupure
Little Sister Zusje
Syskonsalt
Liars Moon
L'été meurtrier
Lavoura Arcaica
Vidas privadas
Those are all the ones I can think of right now. As I said, in another forum I have posted a list that chronicles most films on this theme. I used to think I was the only one that made lists of movies, until the IMDB forums kicked up and I met others that did the same thing. I pick a theme and try to watch all movies based upon that theme. Topics ranging from incest, dying, parents dying, orphans, older people in love, May/December romances, vampires, and so on.
"...nothing is left of me, each time I see her..." - Catullus
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thesiouxfallskid
14 years ago
In Cement Garden we see how such a relationship arose and in La Coupure we see how once that which has arisen and grown intense through time responds to efforts by the two individuals to stifle and break the bond tying them together, a bond which arose so very naturally in the face of a society which views it as very unnatural and wrong. A film which I do not see in the list is Alpine Fire where it arises in a setting remote from common society and we see where it ultimately takes them. In these three films the ending was not what I expected, and I felt that the theme was dealt with on a level well above what it experiences at the hands of average people and their institutions.
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