Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) YTS

Reviewed by CinemaSerf 7 / 10

This film is a little like an LP

This film is a little like an LP. It has two distinct sides. One "Distant Voices" focuses on just what makes the father of a small family tick. Two - "Still Lives" dwells more on the lives of the children. Unlike on the vinyl though, once we are on that side of the record there are no tracks. The story flits about with a non-consistent chronology to bring us the happy, the sad, the brutal and the gentle and it really does showcase well the acting talents of Pete Postlethwaite as the father. A man of the times, who treats women with scant regard. Not, perhaps, because he is inherently cruel or nasty, but because he knows no better? Even his wife (a strong, if sparing, contribution from Freda Dowie) has to tread on eggshells much of the time. There are three children - "Eileen" (Angela Walsh); "Maisie" (Lorraine Ashbourne) and "Tony" (Dean Williams) and their lives, loves and wartime experiences feature potently in the second stage of this drama that tells us much about the societal influences - and expectations - of families, of men, of soldiers and it's quite thought-provoking. It's about love, too, but not in much of a sentimental manner. Relationships have to have a gritty, pragmatic, aspect to them - and it falls to the youngsters to try and change these entrenchments from varying degrees of success and happiness themselves. There is very little dialogue, here. Most of the narrative relies on the glorious photography and the use of contemporaneous songs from the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mercer and some beautifully performed choral works that prove to be truly effective at setting and maintaining a sense of the struggles and joys of this working-class, sometimes unpromising, existence. It's certainly well worth a watch - a few times, I'd say.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by mjneu59 7 / 10

easier to appreciate than enjoy

Terrance Davies' two-part nostalgia exercise is, depending on your tolerance for unembellished honesty, either a sentimental trip down memory lane or a cold-eyed wallow in drab English monotony. The British writer director went to great lengths to re-create a facsimile of working class family life circa 1940-1950, and his meticulous attention to detail sets an almost too perfect mood: the film is both painfully realistic and totally depressing. Using a fragmented, hopscotch style approximating the actual process of memory itself, Davies mixes bits and pieces of autobiographical detail to show how cultural traditions have a way of repeating themselves for a typical Liverpool family, held together by stifling blue collar conditions and a good deal of recreational singing (38 period songs are featured on the soundtrack). The snapshot style doesn't allow for any dramatic momentum, but the film is constructed more as a sampling of brief, transient moments, and is extremely well crafted and emotional despite the often oppressive melancholy.

Distant Voices, Still Lives

1988

Action / Drama / Music

Distant Voices, Still Lives

1988

Action / Drama / Music

Please enable your VPΝ when downloading torrents

Plot summary

Director

Top cast

Tech specs

Movie Reviews

This film is a little like an LP

easier to appreciate than enjoy

No comments yet