Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)

Distant Voices, Still Lives is a 1988 British film directed and written by Terence Davies. It evokes working-class family life in Liverpool during the 1940s and early 1950s, paying particular attention to the role of popular music, Hollywood cinema, light entertainment, and the public house within this tight-knit community.

The film is made up of two separate films, shot two years apart (but with the same cast and crew). The first section, 'Distant Voices', chronicles the early life of a working-class Catholic family living under a domineering patriarchal regime. The second section, 'Still Lives', sees the children grown up and emerging into a brighter 1950s Britain, only a few years from rock 'n' roll and The Beatles, yet somehow still a lifetime away.

The film won the prestigious Grand Prix of the Belgian Film Critics Association. In 2007 the British Film Institute re-printed and distributed the film across some of Britain's most high-profile Independent Cinemas, prompting The Guardian newspaper to describe Distant Voices, Still Lives as 'Britain's forgotten cinematic masterpiece".

In a 2011 poll carried out by Time Out Magazine of the 100 greatest British films of all time, Distant Voices, Still Lives was 3rd, a sign of the influence it has had.

Synopsis

Le deuxième film de la série autobiographique de Terence Davies (avec "Trilogy" et "The Long Day Closes") est une vision impressionniste d'une famille ouvrière dans le Liverpool des années 1940 et 1950, basée sur la propre famille du réalisateur. A travers une série de tableaux exquis, Davies crée un album photo profondément émouvant d'une famille troublée aux prises avec la complexité de l'amour.

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