Terence Davies
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 4:38 pm
Distant Voices, Still Lives
Terence Davies's stunning debut feature film Distant Voices, Still Lives was instantly recognised as a masterpiece on its release in 1988 and the director hailed as one of Britain's most gifted and remarkable filmmakers. Re-released in April 2007 as part of a complete retrospective season of Terence Davies's films at BFI Southbank, it was once again showered with critical acclaim.
The BFI now makes the film available on DVD for the first time, presented in a beautiful new digital restoration - a fitting showcase for this unforgettable film from one of contemporary cinema's true poets.
Drawn from his own family memories, Distant Voices, Still Lives is a strikingly intimate portrait of working class life in 1940s and 1950s Liverpool. Focusing on the real-life experiences of his mother, sisters and brother whose lives are thwarted by their brutal, sadistic father (a chilling performance by Pete Postlethwaite), the film shows us beauty and terror in equal measure. Davies uses the traditional family gatherings of births, marriages and deaths to paint a lyrical portrait of family life - of love, grief, and the highs and lows of being human, a 'poetry of the everyday' that is at once deeply autobiographical and universally resonant.
Extras:
- Feature commentary by director Terence Davies
- Filmed interview with Terence Davies
- Filmed introduction with Art Director Miki van Zwanenberg
- Original trailer
The DVD also contains a fully illustrated 24-page booklet including essays by Beryl Bainbridge and Adrian Danks, an original review from the Monthly Film Bulletin and more.
The Long Day Closes
Released on DVD for the first time, Terence Davies' follow-up to Distant Voices, Still Lives extends his autobiographical memoirs into the '50s
Following his prize-winning debut feature film Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), in 1992 Terence Davies made The Long Day Closes, now released by the BFI on DVD for the first time, alongside The Terence Davies Trilogy.
Terence Davies' lyrical hymn to childhood revisits the same territory as Distant Voices, Still Lives, this time focusing on his own memories of growing up in a working-class Catholic family in Liverpool.
Eleven-year-old Bud (a heartbreaking performance from Leigh McCormack) finds escape from the greyness of '50s Britain through trips to the cinema and in the warmth of family life. But as he gets older, the agonies of the adult world; the casual cruelty of bullying, the tyranny of school and the dread of religion, begin to invade his life.
Time and memory blend and blur through Davies' fluid camerawork; slow tracking shots, pans and dreamlike dissolves combine to create the world of Bud's imagination and the lost paradise of his childhood.
Extras:
- Full feature commentary with Terence Davies and Director of Photography Mick Coulter (Sense and Sensibility, Love Actually)
- On-set interview with production designer Christopher Hobbs (Velvet Goldmine, Orlando)
- Previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage of Terence Davies directing
- 18-page illustrated booklet with essays, director biography and credits
Terence Davies Trilogy, The: Children, Madonna and Child, Death and Transfiguration
Restored by the BFI National Archive and released on DVD for the first time; with commentary by Terence Davies
While at Coventry Drama School in the early 1970s, Terence Davies wrote the script for Children which he directed in 1976. He subsequently took up a place at The National Film School and with the support of the BFI Production Board, made his graduation film Madonna and Child (1980). Three years later, also part-funded by the BFI, he completed the Trilogy with Death and Transfiguration.
Restored by the BFI National Archive who worked closely with Terence himself, the films are preserved by the BFI and are now released on DVD for the first time alongside The Long Day Closes (1992).
Before Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) and The Long Day Closes confirmed Terence Davies' status as one of the cinematic masters of our day; these three early shorts reveal a filmmaker of great promise.
In stark black and white, Davies excavates the life of his fictional alter ego, Robert Tucker, in a narrative that slips between childhood, middle age and death, shaping the raw materials of his own life into a rich tapestry of experiences and impressions.
Over the course of these three films, we witness the emergence of Davies' singular talent and style, the refinement of his technique, and a director growing in confidence, soon to become fted as British cinema's greatest film poet.
Extras:
- Full feature commentary by Terence Davies
- Filmed interview with Terence Davies by Geoff Andrew
- 10-page illustrated booklet including essays by Derek Jarman and Distant Voices, Still Lives producer Jennifer Howarth on Terence Davies at Film School
Terence Davies's stunning debut feature film Distant Voices, Still Lives was instantly recognised as a masterpiece on its release in 1988 and the director hailed as one of Britain's most gifted and remarkable filmmakers. Re-released in April 2007 as part of a complete retrospective season of Terence Davies's films at BFI Southbank, it was once again showered with critical acclaim.
The BFI now makes the film available on DVD for the first time, presented in a beautiful new digital restoration - a fitting showcase for this unforgettable film from one of contemporary cinema's true poets.
Drawn from his own family memories, Distant Voices, Still Lives is a strikingly intimate portrait of working class life in 1940s and 1950s Liverpool. Focusing on the real-life experiences of his mother, sisters and brother whose lives are thwarted by their brutal, sadistic father (a chilling performance by Pete Postlethwaite), the film shows us beauty and terror in equal measure. Davies uses the traditional family gatherings of births, marriages and deaths to paint a lyrical portrait of family life - of love, grief, and the highs and lows of being human, a 'poetry of the everyday' that is at once deeply autobiographical and universally resonant.
Extras:
- Feature commentary by director Terence Davies
- Filmed interview with Terence Davies
- Filmed introduction with Art Director Miki van Zwanenberg
- Original trailer
The DVD also contains a fully illustrated 24-page booklet including essays by Beryl Bainbridge and Adrian Danks, an original review from the Monthly Film Bulletin and more.
The Long Day Closes
Released on DVD for the first time, Terence Davies' follow-up to Distant Voices, Still Lives extends his autobiographical memoirs into the '50s
Following his prize-winning debut feature film Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), in 1992 Terence Davies made The Long Day Closes, now released by the BFI on DVD for the first time, alongside The Terence Davies Trilogy.
Terence Davies' lyrical hymn to childhood revisits the same territory as Distant Voices, Still Lives, this time focusing on his own memories of growing up in a working-class Catholic family in Liverpool.
Eleven-year-old Bud (a heartbreaking performance from Leigh McCormack) finds escape from the greyness of '50s Britain through trips to the cinema and in the warmth of family life. But as he gets older, the agonies of the adult world; the casual cruelty of bullying, the tyranny of school and the dread of religion, begin to invade his life.
Time and memory blend and blur through Davies' fluid camerawork; slow tracking shots, pans and dreamlike dissolves combine to create the world of Bud's imagination and the lost paradise of his childhood.
Extras:
- Full feature commentary with Terence Davies and Director of Photography Mick Coulter (Sense and Sensibility, Love Actually)
- On-set interview with production designer Christopher Hobbs (Velvet Goldmine, Orlando)
- Previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage of Terence Davies directing
- 18-page illustrated booklet with essays, director biography and credits
Terence Davies Trilogy, The: Children, Madonna and Child, Death and Transfiguration
Restored by the BFI National Archive and released on DVD for the first time; with commentary by Terence Davies
While at Coventry Drama School in the early 1970s, Terence Davies wrote the script for Children which he directed in 1976. He subsequently took up a place at The National Film School and with the support of the BFI Production Board, made his graduation film Madonna and Child (1980). Three years later, also part-funded by the BFI, he completed the Trilogy with Death and Transfiguration.
Restored by the BFI National Archive who worked closely with Terence himself, the films are preserved by the BFI and are now released on DVD for the first time alongside The Long Day Closes (1992).
Before Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) and The Long Day Closes confirmed Terence Davies' status as one of the cinematic masters of our day; these three early shorts reveal a filmmaker of great promise.
In stark black and white, Davies excavates the life of his fictional alter ego, Robert Tucker, in a narrative that slips between childhood, middle age and death, shaping the raw materials of his own life into a rich tapestry of experiences and impressions.
Over the course of these three films, we witness the emergence of Davies' singular talent and style, the refinement of his technique, and a director growing in confidence, soon to become fted as British cinema's greatest film poet.
Extras:
- Full feature commentary by Terence Davies
- Filmed interview with Terence Davies by Geoff Andrew
- 10-page illustrated booklet including essays by Derek Jarman and Distant Voices, Still Lives producer Jennifer Howarth on Terence Davies at Film School
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