Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
Distant Voices, Still Lives
Terence Davies' debut feature is a remarkable evocation of working-class family life in the 40s and 50s and a visionary exploration of memory.
Director: Terence Davies
Overview
Set in a world before Elvis, a Liverpool before the Beatles, Terence Davies' debut feature is a remarkable evocation of working-class family life in the 40s and 50s and a visionary exploration of memory. In a powerful succession of searing vignettes, Davies paints an autobiographical picture of a family dominated by an oppressive patriarch. The women in the family achieve partial escape from his dominance through the popular songs of the period that punctuate the narrative, provoking the idea of ‘a kind of musical’. Terence Davies’ poetic masterpiece has now acquired the status of a modern British classic.
Ranked joint 243th in the 2022 Sight and Sound Great Films of All Time poll
Related
Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer
Biopic 2024 90 mins Director: Thomas von Steinaecker
A riveting and all-encompassing portrait of the iconic German filmmaker.
Dread Beat and Blood Dread Beat and Blood
Biopic 1979 44 mins Director: Franco Rosso
Vibrant documentary portrait of dub poet and activist Linton Kwesi Johnson, fighting racism with the spoken word on the streets of 1970s Brixton.
Tigers Tigers
Biopic 2021 116 mins Director: Ronnie Sandahl
A teenage football prodigy spirals out of control when he is bought by one of the most prestigious clubs in the world. Sweden’s submission for the 2022 Academy Awards, based on a true story.
Rebel Dread Rebel Dread
Biopic 2021 83 mins Director: William E. Badgley
This is the story of the iconic Don Letts, the coolest cultural polymath – narrated by the man himself.
Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story
Biopic 2018 101 mins Director: Steve Sullivan
Frank Sidebottom was a pillar of alternative comedy of the late 80s/early 90s, and this charming documentary remembers the man behind the papier-mâché head.
Vita & Virginia Vita & Virginia
Biopic 2018 110 mins Director: Chanya Button
Gemma Arterton and Elizabeth Debicki relive a literary love affair, fiery and forbidden, with a remarkable legacy.
Weekend Weekend
Drama 2011 97 mins Director: Andrew Haigh
Andrew Haigh's internationally acclaimed tale of a brief encounter between two gay men.
Letter to Brezhnev Letter to Brezhnev
Comedy 1985 94 mins Director: Chris Bernard
A defining Merseyside film, in which two Liverpool lasses hook up with a pair of Russian sailors only to wonder if they might be better off behind the Iron Curtain.
The Arbor The Arbor
Biopic 2010 90 mins Director: Clio Barnard
Clio Barnard's film about Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar mixes reconstruction, interviews (performed by actors) and scenes from the plays.
Kelly + Victor Kelly + Victor
Drama 2013 90 mins Director: Kieran Evans
In modern Liverpool, a couple meet and begin a transgressive, sexually charged affair set against a background of crime and encroaching danger.
Madonna and Child Madonna and Child
Drama 1980 28 mins Director: Terence Davies
Autobiography as art: the centrepiece of Terence Davies' devastating Liverpool-set Trilogy focuses on his fictional alter-ego in middle age.
Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story
Biopic 2018 101 mins Director: Steve Sullivan
Frank Sidebottom was a pillar of alternative comedy of the late 80s/early 90s, and this charming documentary remembers the man behind the papier-mâché head.
Of Time and the City Of Time and the City
Documentary 2008 74 mins Director: Terence Davies
Brilliantly mixing archive film and music, Liverpool-born director Terence Davies reflects with wit and wisdom on a times of change, for good or ill
Death and Transfiguration Death and Transfiguration
Drama 1983 26 mins Director: Terence Davies
The Terence Davies Trilogy reaches its astonishing climax as tortured Liverpool clerk Robert Tucker prepares to meet his maker.
Madonna and Child Madonna and Child
Drama 1980 28 mins Director: Terence Davies
Autobiography as art: the centrepiece of Terence Davies' devastating Liverpool-set Trilogy focuses on his fictional alter-ego in middle age.
Children Children
Drama 1976 46 mins Director: Terence Davies
The first part of Terence Davies' formidable Trilogy explores the effects of violence on a Liverpool schoolboy, told in a series of flashbacks.
Of Time and the City Of Time and the City
Documentary 2008 74 mins Director: Terence Davies
Brilliantly mixing archive film and music, Liverpool-born director Terence Davies reflects with wit and wisdom on a times of change, for good or ill
20,000 Species of Bees 20,000 Species of Bees
Drama 2023 128 mins Director: Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren
Sofía Otero ignites this warm, rich Spanish drama woven from a child’s probing question: who am I?
Undertow Undertow
Drama 2009 101 mins Director: Javier Fuentes-León
Miguel, a young married fisherman with a baby on the way, struggles to reconcile his devotion to his male lover within his town’s rigid traditions.
Tótem Tótem
Drama 2022 95 mins Director: Lila Avilés
A poignant birthday party exposes a series of family tensions in Lila Avilés’ outstanding follow-up to The Chambermaid.
The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future
Fantasy 2022 99 mins Director: Francisca Alegría
Francisca Alegría brings together family trauma and ecology into a poetic journey of rebirth. A mysterious and poetic tale on our collapsing ecosystem and finding balance.
Underground Underground
Comedy 1995 170 mins Director: Emir Kusturica
Set against the backdrop of 50 turbulent years of Yugoslavian history, this deeply moving and masterful tragic-farce from director Emir Kusturica earned him his second Palme d'Or.