The Window (1949)
—Truly scary boy-cries-wolf story about a habitual liar who thinks he witnesses a murder in his working-class tenement
Circus World (1964)
—Story of economic and familial hardships of touring circus life in Europe, featuring a thrilling sequence in which an ocean liner capsizes
Crack in the World (1965)
—Mix of special effects and stock footage portrays a reasonably plausible end of the world
Taking Off (1971)
—Episodic, offbeat tale about middle-aged parents who find their own liberation when their hippie daughter runs away from home
The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)
—Technically flawed, but intriguing head game about reincarnation, set in the sex- and demon-obsessed 70s
Fellini’s Casanova (1976)
—Extravagant, elegant, pessimistic, and confrontational biopic that says goodbye to both free love and the golden age of Italian cinema
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)
—Kathy Bates, Sandy Dennis, Cher, and Karen Black stuck together in a hot Texas roadside diner
L’Argent (1983)
—Quietly shocking depiction of the soul-killing effects of money and injustice, based on a short story by Tolstoy
Dreamchild (1985)
—Sympathetic and touching portrayal of author Lewis Carroll, but the real subjects are loneliness and the nature of ideal love
The Long Day Closes (1992)
—Nostalgic period film blending bubbly pop standards and dreary slice-of-life scenes of postwar England
(I am ripping off a comment I made on another blog about Distant Voices, Still Lives)
ReplyDelete....I don't think Davies went for the linear narrative until he got to Hollywood.
Maybe there wasn't much to be glad about in Liverpool in the 1950s?
Still, the long opening track shot of a wet street of dreary English rowhouses at night set to Nat King Cole's version of "Stardust" still slays me. Maybe I'm a sucker for cheap irony. :)
[and you and I may get our dvd dreams yet because there was a Terence Davies retrospective at UCLA the other week.
Best regards, Tricia]
It would be excellent if Criterion would get behind this project and issue "special" editions of both TLDC and Distant Voices Still Lives. It would be a little bit of heaven ... speaking of which, I'm slain by the scene of Bud at Catholic school, accompanied by Debbie Reynolds' dreamy "Tammy."
ReplyDeleteJoe
...and thanks for reminding me that I must see Dreamchild someday. Ian Holm and Dennis Potter, two of my all time favorites.
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