Talk Part One: Gardens & Power Cinematic Gardens and the Subconscious: Nature, Symbolism, and the Psyche on Film

Cinematic Gardens and the Subconscious : Nature, Symbolism, and the Psyche on Film

Throughout the history of cinema, gardens, parks, courtyards, and other green spaces have been far more than mere backdrops or locations. They have served as places where desires, anxieties, and fantasies are expressed, and where meaning is sought—whether in tranquil sanctuaries or in labyrinths shrouded in mystery. At the same time, these spaces showcase nature shaped and cultivated by human intervention alongside areas left wild and untamed, thus highlighting the tension between order and chaos.

Whether it’s the walled garden in The Secret Garden (1993) reflecting grief and self-discovery, the suburban lawns in Broken Flowers (2005) signaling social status, the ornate château grounds in Last Year at Marienbad (1961) twisting time and memory, the colonial plots in The New World (2005) exposing power structures between settlers and Indigenous people, or the Japanese garden in Kill Bill (2003) becoming a stylized battleground—gardens in cinema have always mirrored deeper social realities or emotional states, serving as windows into the subconscious.

Addressed to both film enthusiasts and garden lovers, this series explores the role and symbolism of cinematic gardens in four lectures: Gardens & Power, Gardens & Love, Gardens & Crime, and Gardens & The Gothic.

Part One : Gardens & Power (23/05)

Cinematic gardens frequently mirror political and social hierarchies—particularly in historical costume dramas, where Baroque landscapes become expressions of royal splendour and authority.

In Barry Lyndon (1975), aristocratic gardens accentuate class divisions, functioning as status symbols and demonstrations of power. Meanwhile, The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982) sets its intricately designed grounds as the stage for negotiations and sexual intrigue, underscoring how organised landscapes can reflect manipulative alliances. Marie Antoinette (2006) employs the opulent gardens of Versailles to emphasize extravagance and foreshadow the monarchy’s downfall, and in The New World (2005), the carefully cultivated plots in the Jamestown colonial settlement illustrate how power structures emerge when settlers tame and domesticate the land, revealing the tension between them and Indigenous people.

Far from sanctuaries, these cultivated landscapes serve as dynamic stages for shifting alliances, hidden agendas, intrigue, and influence—metaphors for manipulation and the pursuit of power.

This conference is organized in the framework of LUGA - Luxembourg Urban Garden.