From the original voice of British auteur Terence Davies comes a visual poem about the director’s life in Liverpool from 1945 to 1973. It is a very personal portrait of Liverpool, beyond its Beatles and its football clubs, the home of the writer’s birth, where youth and inspiration weave his own story into the recent history of the city with fascinating found footage and a lyrical soundtrack. The visual poem is played out against a backdrop of densely packed urban living and backbreaking domestic labor. But Davies counterpoints the slums with beautiful, soaring music and lifts us into the world of fantasy and collective emotion which makes the misery of life bearable. For lovers of Davies’ previous work many of his themes from his earlier narrative pieces thread through this film–Catholicism, homosexuality, violence, death, loss, the glory of cinema, outsiderness and childhood. Narrated by Davies.
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March 31, 2010
#1
Surely, this is the “Plan 9 from Outer Space” of documentaries. It is poorly made, unsympathetic and boring. The narrator is entirely self-focused and his voice is unsuited to narrative, raspy and irritating. The footage is monotonous, depressing, and actually manages to say very little about the city. The film is used as a personal vehicle for a few views that are entirely irrelevant to the subject. People viewing this lame pastiche who actually came from the city and from that time felt personally insulted. I’m sure the supporting organizations, who thought they were aiding in a true representation of their city, would be justified in legal action for misrepresentation. This was truly horrid and grating, no redeeming qualiteis except that it opens the way for someone to do a really good film on what is actually the always interesting and always dynamic city of Liverpool.
March 31, 2010
#2
Having left Liverpool at the age of 18, back in 1974, much of the content of the film was touchingly familiar. However, the pretentious and somewhat precious prattling of the commentary is somewhat irritating; espacially in the first 20 minutes or so. Frankly, Scousers don’t give a toss that the maker of the film had a problem reconciling his Catholicism with his sexual orientation. Boo hoo and big deal. The thing that makes Liverpool so exceptional among English cities is the character, wit and sheer bloody exuberance of its people. Seeing the crowds at New Brighton and pouring off the Ferry at Pier Head reminded me of the catastrophic decline in the population of Liverpool. Almost all of my generation just buggered off in disgust. Many of those left behind ended up in Cantrill Farm, Kirkby and other cheap and nasty concrete dumping grounds for the once proud inhabitants of this once great city. Militant Tendancy, Toxteth riots and thousands of Yosser Hugheses did nothing to convince anyone that the place was worth rescuing. Just remember all the fuss about the “Garden Festival” and then go and take a look at the sad wreckage that is all that is left of that early example of cynical political spin-doctoring. When I go to Liverpool these days (every 2 years or so) the place seems grotty, derelict and almost deserted. But the people are still among the best on Earth although, God knows, they have been let down badly. Snazzy new shopping centres and silly, money-wasting “Years of Culture” are no substitute for and cannot replace Liverpool’s former greatness as a gateway to the world and a bustling centre of manufacturing enterprise. This film is wonderful nostalgia which really touched me deeply but it’s time to stop wallowing in the past and move on. I pray for a sequel called “The Liver Bird Flies Again”.
March 31, 2010
#3
Using rare footage of Liverpool, with only one tiny glimpse of the Beatles, this just over one-hour documentary uses poetry, literature and classical music to convey a personal picture of one of England’s most mythologized cities. The dirt, the squalor and the poverty are shown in loving black and white while Kenneth Davies voices over a cynical older man’s reminiscences of life here from the late 40s through the 70s when he evidently escaped. In the ugliness, there is beauty probably unappreciated by the residents. I would have appreciated a bit of current footage showing today’s more gussied up Liverpool with what Davies claims are high design restaurants that rival any in Europe. This is a pretty picture, evocative, melancholy, but clinging to a bit of revery amid the ruins.
March 31, 2010
#4
Davies has laid bare the rotted fruit of the industrial revolution and missteps of modern man on a mission with blinders. One may never see a city so lovely, so romantically enveloped from a boyhood naivety to an old man cynicism. Liverpool was the working man’s “Rule Britannia” port-o-call. The world began and ended with the soot filled skies, industrial waterfront, and battle cries of good natured regional footballers. The hardships of coming home to that place you couldn’t wait to escape, but then realize you’ve always wanted to be nowhere but here. A love letter to the heart. A poetic bullet from a forgotten past to some obscure, impotent future, this film is a marvel.
Using the current British monarchy as “the Betty Windsor show” to take the piss out of an ineffective and ‘long pampered to no good end’ we see the riches lavished on royalty while the distraught portend and fein happiness with a wink and nod. Blessed abundance of wit, charm, and razor thoughts, “the problem with being poor is it takes up all your time. The problem with being rich is it takes up everybody else’s”.
Yes, this is a fools paradise but it’s his. The visual panorama reveals hidden cameras long ago planted and left to run unencumbered. The amount of material is boggling and starts to numb when he takes another robust verbal joust at the things he loves to hate, and the things he hates to love. Intimacy into and family of poverty run amok. Nothing will ever be the same. When you come home, the one change, the biggest one is yourself. Again you are reminded he’s not heavy, he’s your brother. And nothing is more catholic than the pope. Blessed be the meek for they have inherited Liverpool and forever shall it remain an imitation of some past.
March 31, 2010
#5
A beautifully made film,fanatstic use of black and white footage and a poetic commentary. Pure film making by a devotee of film.