Formerly "A Movie A Day" :/

Friday, August 28, 2009

Of Time and the City - 2008 - Dir. Davies

I didn't/don't really know much about Terrence Davies. Apart from he rarely works and despite that is generally thought to be fucking amazing. I believe this is his first documentary so I'm unsure as to whether this really was the best introduction to his work. From what I gather, there's a lot of similar themes... although I'm really curious to see what the Man's Camera work is like. I was recommended the film because of his voice-over narration though. I CAN SEE WHY! He carries a lot of weight in those tubes of his. The film is basically him speaking about his experiences growing up in liverpool over stock footage. The film leads up to the eventual crumbling of the city. I actually kind of found Davies a little absent from the film. Much of the film is wry observations, more than personal experience. That's not to say that the film isn't interesting. I know very little about Liverpool and it certainly served as some kind of primer, I guess. About life in the 50's onward in England. Davies tends to slip in personal moments here and there. Which always does feel right, after all, the movie is about the city, not exactly Davies. The combination of Davies powerful delivery, the writing, the music, and the footage really does make a compelling piece of work. Even if it can be difficult to follow, his writing can be a little dense and tough to follow, the tone to utterly and completely present. I did enjoy this, and I might be interested in seeing some of his other work.

It's always a long walk for cycles.

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