Nothingness Vanquished

• email this story
• read comments (16)
• post a comment
• 
  
  

"I'd almost forgotten I existed. Being selected by Cannes has done wonders for me. I thought working again might have a negative effect and I nearly turned it down, but it's been quite the opposite. My heart beats anew." -- British director Terrence Davies, director of Of Time and City, a low-budget, personal documentary about the changes in Liverpool since his childhood, speaking to the Guardian's Jason Solomon.

That's a great line about Davies forgetting his own existence. He's not just saying he'd forgotten or given up on the idea that he existed -- mattered -- as a filmmaker of some consequence within the British film industry, but that he'd stopped thinking of himself as an entity at all -- that he'd so completely surrendered himself to feelings of drift and nothingness that he had actually stopped saying "I am." An amazing thought. Worthy of Kant or Kafka.

comment #1

calraigh says ...

I read this same article this morning and it made my heart sing.'Distant Voices, Still Lives', is one of my all-time favourite films and a masterpiece in my opinion.I also loved 'The House of Mirth', I thought it was an exceptional film and he elicited what should have been a star-making performance from Gillian Anderson in it.It's great to see him back in the throng and I look forward to 'Of Time and the City' with real anticipation.I only wish I could see it's debut in Cannes and I'll be interested in your take on it Jeffrey!

comment #2

The Pope says ...

Anyone seen any of Davies' work? I thought his first feature (actually, two length shorts put together) DISTANT VOICE, STILL LIVES (Toronto Winner... saw it there, the only time I've been to the festival). Brilliant filmmaking... not very interested in plot, prefers instead the poetry. His follow up, THE LONG DAY CLOSES was again poetic, but it was like being in a museum... with the air being slowly sucked out. Didn't see THE NEON BIBLE. His adaptation of THE HOUSE OF MIRTH was quite good. I think this is his first film since then.

comment #3

Mgmax says ...

I read about his first independent films-- now known as "The Terence Davies Trilogy"-- in Sight & Sound years ago, but to my knowledge they've practically never been seen in the US (for that matter I saw Distant Voices in Paris long before it ever came over here). Someone like Criterion needs to bring his work to more general attention.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264090/

comment #4

StoneFan1 says ...

I gave Mr. Davies my Best Director award in 2000
for "The House of Mirth" and thought Ms. Anderson
was robbed of a nomination, yet alone a win at the
Oscars.

comment #5

Alpha Base says ...

Davies is a genius. I love especially his Trilogy and his take on Wharton's "The House of Mirth" was brilliant (yes, Gillian created such a complex character there: she was smug and flirty, dejected and full of despair, irritating and heart-breaking). The way he was treated by the bbc pignoramuses still makes me angry.

I'm so looking forward to his portrayal of Liverpool. I hope he has captured some unexpected things about the city, just like other directors did with the UK capital in THE LONDON NOBODY KNOWS, LONDON, ROBINSON IN SPACE, and FINISTERRE. Rock on, Terence.

comment #6

erniesouchak says ...

Thank God, I was beginning to think I was the only person who'd seen "House of Mirth." How sad it didn't get pushed, pushed and pushed some more. An excellent, excellent movie.

comment #7

Alpha Base says ...

You're certainly not the only one, ernie. It's sad that the fate of movies largely depends on the promotional skils of some more or less qualified people. Oh, wait, did Sony promote "The House of Mirth" at all?

comment #8

erniesouchak says ...

Sony Pictures Classics is a label with great taste (usually) and very limited marketing power, unfortunately."The Mother" was another good film they barely promoted.

comment #9

Alpha Base says ...

Duh. They had some money, but spent it on promoting that empty Chinese flick whose title I can't even remember.

comment #10

The Hoyk says ...

Sony Pictures Classics has limited marketing power because they are irredeemable cheapskates who foist the bulk of the cost of advertising to theatres who don't have the resources to make up for their lack of support. How they still manage to sucker filmmakers into letting them handle their movies is beyond me.

I dare you to name a single movie they released since that Chinese flick that has been a substantial hit or had any sort of cultural significance. I double dog dare you.

comment #11

lipranzer says ...

I can't speak to Sony Pictures Classics marketing, but I still like that "Chinese flick", and since then, they've released and/or distributed such films as THIRTEEN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING, LAST ORDERS, OWNING MAHOWNEY, SPIDER, AUTO FOCUS, THE FOG OF WAR, THE COMPANY (the Altman movie), 2046, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, SARABAND, KUNG FU HUSTLE, L'ENFANT, CAPOTE, THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA, FRIENDS WITH MONEY, VOLVER, THE LIVES OF OTHERS, MY KID COULD PAINT THAT, and BLACK BOOK. You can argue about the "cultural significance" of any those, I guess, but any company that released those movies can't be all bad.

comment #12

Bob Violence says ...

SPC gave the film an Oscar push -- mainly in the acting categories -- but it was a doomed effort given the people they were talking to ("the performances are so mannered" was a common refrain, never mind that this was exactly the point). The fact that the cast itself seemed less than enthused (I recall one interview with Anderson where she cagily refused to say whether she liked the movie) probably killed any promotional campaign before it could even begin.

And Distant Voices, Still Lives has a fine DVD release in the UK (and The Terence Davies Trilogy is due in July), although UK imports are admittedly unappealing with the dollar in the toilet.

comment #13

The Hoyk says ...

I wrote a long thought-out reply to your well-argued rebuttal, Lipranzer, but it was eaten by my computer.

So I'll be a little more succinct and somewhat flip: do you know anyone who saw those movies in first-run that lives in a city not serviced by a Landmark Theatre?

comment #14

Alpha Base says ...

"I recall one interview with Anderson where she cagily refused to say whether she liked the movie."

I'm not surprised Anderson was less than entthused: the lovely company suggested the movie wouldn't even get a cinematic release. So if people want to accuse her of killing the promotion, they are very wrong.

comment #15

Bob Violence says ...

I guess you're talking about SPC there, but the interview was done for a UK paper (the Guardian, if I recall, although I can't find it on their website). There was also an amusing interview with Davies where he said LaPaglia's first reaction coming out of the premiere was something like "why isn't there more music?"

comment #16

TedM says ...

Was turned on to his work by a now deceased co-worker.
His early films are just brilliant mood pieces. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH was one of my favorite films, but I vividly remember seeing the critics' screening at the New York Film Festival where the audience dismissed it as warmed-over Merchant Ivory. Also, the movie was originally shot to be aired in the US over Showtime. It was the first (and one of the few) films Showtime ever released theatrically. So there was a feeling that this made the effort somehow sub par. Anderson was stunning in the part -- compare her performance to the ones that got nominated that year, including Julia Roberts in ERIN BROCKOVICH and she certainly should have earned more acclaim.

Post a Comment