Distant Voices, Still Lives

This little jewel, which earned an International Critic's Prize at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, will almost certainly not receive the attention it deserves on video. Written and directed by Terence Davies, the two-part story is an autobiographical montage of family life in the 1940s and 1950s in Liverpool. The first half, Distant Voices, introduces the family: a violently crazy father, the quiet suffering mother, and the three children. As the bombs explode (both literally in the streets, and metaphorically in the home), we are given brief snippets of family highlights--the wedding of the eldest daughter, the funeral of the father, a comic argument over whether one of the girls did or didn't break wind in a small tent. And in the second part, Still Lives, we see the progression (and regression) of the surviving family, who in their unhappy marriages seem unable to break the cycle of working class money worries and domestic violence. Yet, through it all, they sing... Nearly forty popular tunes from the period are interspersed throughout this strangely structured, yet refreshingly innovative cinematic poem. Stunning cinematography--which literally makes the vignettes look like old color photos from the period--lends an incredible realism to the otherwise dreamlike quality of the narrative. Sure to be overlooked, this excellent film is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman) [Blu-ray Review—Oct. 16, 2018—Arrow, 85 min., PG-13, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its Blu-ray debut, 1988’s Distant Voices, Still Lives features a fine transfer with uncompressed mono LPCM audio. Extras include audio commentary by director Terence Davies, 'Images of Liverpool' archival films (62 min.), a Q&A with Davies (32 min.), interviews with Davies (20 min.) and artist Miki van Zwanenberg (7 min.), an introduction by film critic Mark Kermode (3 min.), and an image gallery. Bottom line: a stellar edition of this contemporary classic.]