Of Times Past: The Cinema of Terence Davies
Please note : this season finished in Dec 2023
"Being in the past makes me feel safe because I understand that world" Terence Davies, 1945 - 2023
Terence Davies, who died earlier this autumn, was one of our greatest filmmakers. His was not a household name but Davies’ films were singularly cinematic, drawing on his early love of cinema which was an escape from the rawness of his working-class childhood in Liverpool. He channeled that love of films and a passion for music to unflinchingly revisit his life as a boy growing up under the brutal shadow of a violent father, as portrayed in his starkly beautiful debut feature film Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988).
There was however always joy: in the working class community, his older sisters, and of course the cinema, always the cinema, as movingly revisited in his follow up The Long Day Closes (1992). These two films along with his earlier shorts marked the arrival of a strikingly distinctive and mature cinematic voice. One, unfortunately, that was not suited to the cut and thrust of market forces. There would be long waits between films but each one was eagerly anticipated.
His later films A Quiet Passion (2016) and Benediction (2021) explored the lives of writers and poets and hinted at a rejuvenated creative energy. Sadly he died in October with numerous projects still in development. This season celebrates and reminds us of the cinematic elegance of Terence Davies.
