86
7.7
Avenue Pictures | Release Date: September 11, 1988
Summary: The second film in Terence Davies's autobiographical series ('Trilogy', 'The Long Day Closes') is an impressionistic view of a working-class family in 1940s and 1950s Liverpool, based on Davies's own family. The first part, 'Distant Voices', opens with grown siblings Eileen (Angela Walsh), Maisie (Lorraine Ashbourne) and Tony (Dean Williams), and their mother (Freda Dowie) arranged in mourning clothes before the photograph of their smiling father (Pete Postlethwaite). Soon after, the family poses in a similar tableau, but for a happier occasion - Eileen's wedding. While relatives sing at her reception, Eileen hysterically grieves for her dad, and recalls happy times of her youth. Tony and Maisie's memories, however, are more troubled. Davies intermingles and contrasts scenes like the family peacefully lighting candles in church with the brutal man beating his wife and terrorizing his young children. In 'Still Lives', set (and filmed) two years later, the siblings are settled in life, but not all happily. For Eileen, relief from her drab existence comes only when singing at the pub. With his skillfully composed frames and evocative use of music in place of dialogue, Davies creates a lovely, affecting photo album of a troubled family wrestling with the complexity of love.
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Details

Runtime: 85 min
Rating: PG-13
Production: Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)
Genres: Drama, Music
Countries: GB, XWG
Language: English
Director Credit
Terence Davies Director
Writer Credit
Terence Davies Written By
Principal Cast Credit
Angela Walsh Eileen
Dean Williams Tony
Freda Dowie Mother
Lorraine Ashbourne Maisie
Michael Starke Dave
Nathan Walsh Tony As A Child
Pete Postlethwaite Father
Sally Davies Eileen As A Child
Susan Flanagan Maisie As A Child
Vincent Maguire George
Cast Credit
Andrew Schofield Les
Antonia Mallen Rose
Chris Darwin Red
Debi Jones Micky
Marie Jelliman Jingles
Producer Credit
Colin MacCabe Executive Producer
Jennifer Howarth Producer