Distant Voices, Still Lives

About

Distant Voices, Still Lives is a strikingly intimate portrait of working class life in 1940s and 1950s Liverpool. Directed and written by Terence Davies, the film draws from his own family memories. It focuses on the real-life experiences of his mother, sisters and brother whose lives are thwarted by their brutal, sadistic father, played with chilling menace by Pete Postlethwaite. The film explores beauty and terror in equal measure. Davies skilfully uses the traditional family gatherings of births, marriages and deaths to paint a lyrical portrait of family life. This is a tale of love, grief, and the highs and lows of being human. It is a 'poetry of the everyday' that is at once deeply autobiographical and universally resonant.