LFF - Terence Davies presents 'Distant Voices, Still Lives'

Sarah Cohen attends a special screening of the 1988 classic.

Oct 23 2006

Saturday was Scouse night at the Odeon West End, with simultaneous teatime screenings of David Leaf and John Scheinfeld's documentary 'The US vs John Lennon' and the revival of Terence Davies' 'Distant Voices, Still Lives'.

The LFF's 'Treasures From The Archives' strand brings newly-restored prints back into circulation. And while it's always wonderful to see classics like 'Dr Strangelove' or 'Great Expectations' on the big screen again, it's more thrilling that the BFI and equivalent archives around the world breathe new life into half-forgotten gems that could have been lost forever.

'Distant Voices, Still Lives' is one of these rescued treasures. Originally released in 1988, it's Davies' transparently autobiographical evocation of working-class family life in Liverpool in the 1940s and '50s. The hardship he and his family endured at the hands of their violent patriarch (Pete Postlethwaite) is depicted through a series of chronologically jumbled vignettes, which effectively mirror the haphazard way memories are recalled.

Births, weddings and funerals are characterised by jolly sing-songs of the era's popular music, and it is these interludes that provide the film's emotional resonance. The unspoken sisterhood between the women and unacceptable vulnerability in the men is subtly expressed through this communal activity with extraordinary warmth.

Terence Davies was present to introduce the film and eagerly bounded back on stage after the screening to answer questions. He revealed himself to be a hugely entertaining, although somewhat curmudgeonly raconteur, relating anecdotes, quoting Chekov and ranting about the British film industry, which has declined him funding since his big budget 'House of Mirth' adaptation failed to light up box offices in 2000. Despite this setback, Davies said that he has a script ready to go. The audience was most amused to hear that it's a romantic comedy.

• 
•