Terence Davies

 

Terence Davies was born in a worker’s
family of ten children; his films are entirely autobiographical and Davies
himself once said that his whole past is in his films. Before directing, he
worked as a clerk and actor. In the film The House of Mirth from 2000,
starring Gillian Anderson, Davies parted with his tradition of autobiographical
films (an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel), but there are many elements from
his former works also present in this film.

Filmography

The House of Mirth (2000)
The Neon Bible (1995)
The Long Day Closes (1992)
Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)
The Terence Davies Trilogy (1984)
Death and Transfiguration (1983)
Madonna and Child (1980)
Children (1976)


Related texts

Religion as a film challenge

Films by this director

The Terence Davies Trilogy

(UK, 1983)

Directed by: Terence Davies
PHOTOGRAPHY: William Diver
Synopsis:

A film in three parts about Robert Tucker’s life; the first part, Children, tells about his childhood marked by family violence, education and father’s death; the second, Madonna and Child, about his own homosexuality and the reality of life with his mother, and the third, Death and Transfiguration, about his mother’s death and his own fate.

b/w, 102'

Distant voices, still lives

(UK, West Germany, 1988)

Directed by: Terence Davies
PHOTOGRAPHY: William Diver, Patrick Duval
Synopsis:

The story of a worker’s family from post-war Liverpool. The first part, Distant voices, shows the death of the father and the older sister’s wedding, while the second, Still lives, focuses on Tony’s marriage. A violent and alcoholic father is in the center, and the whole family hates him even though they cannot part from him. The only way all of them show their suppressed emotions is by singing.

color, 84'

The Long Day Closes

(The long day closes, UK, 1992)

Directed by: Terence Davies
PHOTOGRAPHY: Michael Coulter
Synopsis:

Davies continues to research his autobiography. The story follows a few months in the life of a twelve year-old boy, Bud. The action takes place one more time in Liverpool in 1956, and Bud is trying, by regularly going to a movie theatre, to erase painful childhood memories…

color, 85'
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