 Memories and impressions from master filmmaker Terence Davies' post-war Liverpool childhood, The Long Day Closes focuses on his shy, daydreaming alter ego, Bud, growing up poor and Catholic during a time in the mid ’50s after the death of his brutal father. Composed of the details and small moments that make up a life — a mother’s favorite song sung softly to herself; a hot cup of cocoa on a cold rainy night; a family get-together; or a joyful trip to the cinema — the film is infused with a sense of contentment occasionally darkened by the shadow of sadness. The youngest in a large family, Bud often can’t be part of his siblings’ activities and, at a new school, is just starting to face conflicts and realizations that will bring him into his own adulthood.
Davies’ muted colors, austere camera movements, painterly still lifes, snatches of dialogue and ripe, eclectic soundtrack—containing everything from Mahler to popular songs by Nat King Cole, Debbie Reynolds and Doris Day, to traditional melodies to slivers of soundtracks from The Magnificent Ambersons and The Ladykillers — are meticulously crafted into a sublime evocation of the imprint of time and place on one man. According to the director, “the film is a story of paradise, but the story of a paradise that’s already being lost and will only survive as a memory.”
"EXQUISITE"
- Richard Brody, The New Yorker
"A MUST-SEE! NO CONTEMPORARY FILMMAKER IS MORE PROFOUND."
– Armond White, CityArts
*****! 5 STARS - highest rating #1 CRITICS' PICK!
"ENTRANCING! A GLORIOUS NEW 35mm PRINT!
– Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York
|
