DEEP DIVE: Terence Davies' Memories, Dreams, Time, and Space
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IMO, Terence Davies was one of the most underrated, underdiscussed masters and one of the most important Queer filmmakers in contemporary cinema. It's really too bad that we're not going to be able to witness more of his unique point of view; he passed away in 2023.
Terence Davies had a complicated relationship with his own queerness, which stemmed a lot from his own working class and rather conservative childhood (where have I heard that before?). You can see a lot of this especially in his earlier films. We'll be going through a sample of his short filmography in three sections, especially to get a feel of his style as well as the recurring throughline: an autobiographical portrait, a literature adaptation, and a biopic of a poet.
Let's dive in!
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Films:
- Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988):
Synopsis: The lives of an English working-class family are told out of order in a free-associative manner. The first part, "Distant Voices", focuses on the father's role in the family. The second part, "Still Lives", focuses on his children.
Stream: FREE on Roku Channel - The House of Mirth (2000)
Synopsis: A woman risks losing her chance of happiness with the only man she has ever loved.
Stream: FREE on YouTube - Benediction (2021)
Synopsis: Legendary 20th century English war poet Siegfried Sassoon embarks on a life-long quest for personal salvation through his experiences with family, war, his writing, and destructive relationships. True salvation can only come from within.
Stream: Kanopy FREE with library card!
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Please try to watch all the films! If you can only watch a couple of them, you're still welcome! I'll be posting free links to these movies if I can find them!
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Resources:
Terence Davies profile on They Shoot Pictures Don't They
Terence Davies on Distant Voices Still Lives
Interview with Terence Davies on The House of Mirth
Interview with Terence Davies on Benediction
Q&A with Terence Davies and Jack Loweden