Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)

The lives of an English working-class family are told out of order in a free-associative manner. The first part, "Distant Voices", focuses on the father's role in the family. The second part, "Still Lives", focuses on his children.

Director:

Terence Davies

Writer:

Terence Davies

Stars:

Pete Postlethwaite, Freda Dowie, Angela Walsh

10 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Freda Dowie	...	Mother
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Father
Angela Walsh	...	Eileen
Dean Williams	...	Tony
Lorraine Ashbourne	...	Maisie
Sally Davies	...	Eileen as a Child
Nathan Walsh	...	Tony as a Child
Susan Flanagan	...	Maisie as a Child
Michael Starke	...	Dave
Vincent Maguire	...	George
Antonia Mallen	...	Rose
Debi Jones	...	Micky
Chris Darwin	...	Red
Marie Jelliman	...	Jingles
Andrew Schofield	...	Les

Storyline

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, ...

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Plot Keywords:

singing | liverpool | wedding | 1950s | 1940s | 

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Taglines:

In memory, everything happens to music.

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

UK West Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 November 1988 (France)

Also Known As:

Entfernte Stimmen - Stilleben

Filming Locations:

Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,021, 30 July 1989

Gross USA:

$693,563

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$771,745

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Film Institute (BFI), Channel Four Films, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Pete Poslethwaite found it hard to believe that Terence Davies' father (on whom his character was based) could have been so violent and cruel to his family. It wasn't until Davies asked his sister to tell him about being beaten in the cellar with a broomstick by their father (which is depicted in the film) that he accepted it was true.

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Quotes

Uncle Ted: I've switched the light off. I don't know whether I'm doing right or wrong.

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Connections

Featured in Century of Cinema: A Personal History of British Cinema by Stephen Frears (1995)

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Soundtracks

Taking a Chance on Love
(uncredited)
Written by Vernon Duke, John La Touche and Ted Fetter
Performed by Ella Fitzgerald

User Reviews

One of the most rewarding and unique films I've ever seen.

It's difficult to say exactly what this luminous masterpiece is about. It's a memoir of sorts but a highly stylized one where memories are re-experienced and conveyed through songs, frequently communally sung; painful familial interactions powerfully shot as if the scenes were paintings or sets on a stage. This formal approach resonates simultaneously with richness and alienation, pathos and ecstasy. Difficult to shake.

Not at all what I expected and there's certainly nothing quite like it anywhere in the history of cinema. Powerfully acted and masterfully directed: One of the great works of British movie-making.

I also highly recommend Davies' two other great works: "The Long Day Closes" and the recent, made for Showtime movie starring an amazing Gillian Anderson, "The House of Mirth." I personally didn't care that much for "The Neon Bible."