Distant Voices Still Lives (1988) part 1 - Terence Davies

"Another movie, another planet".
When this movie was released back in 1988, it was nothing but a shock for those who have seen it. This is a movie you won't forget. And as usual, i still don't understand WHY it hasn't been released yet on DVD. My VHS copy has suffered a lot because it is 15 years old but Distant Voices, Still Lives is too important to be left in oblivion.

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Distant Voices, Still Lives is the debut feature of Terence Davies. He already did 3 short films which formed the Terence Davies Trilogy : "the three films chart the life and death of Robert Tucker, brought up - like Davies himself - in a Catholic working-class home in Liverpool. Robert is bullied at school and has a violent father who dies while the boy is still young. He is left to live alone with his mother, to whom he is devoted. As an adult, he struggles with his homosexuality, and the feelings of guilt and shame induced by his sexuality are sharpened by his Catholicism".
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Listen to the first minutes of Distant Voices, Still Lives with our
Dew MP3 FLASH PLAYER

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"Terence Davies's debut feature is actually two films, made two years apart. With the same cast and setting, and an effective matching of image and mood, Distant Voices and Still Lives work together to make a highly resonant feature which continues to mine the rich biographical seam explored in Davies's earlier Trilogy."
Annette Kuhn @ Screenonline

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Pete Postlethwaite is unforgettable in this role. You've seen him since in Alien 3, The Usual Suspects & Jurassic Park 2.
He recalled in an interview in 1997 to Metroactive : "Terence Davies' directorial style was extraordinary. He had a very, very precise vision and aural perception of what he'd wanted, of what piece of music was going to accompany a scene, how long a shot would take. Very mathematical: In a nutshell, he'd say a scene will take place at 13 1/2 seconds."

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Freda Dowie plays the mother.
Can someone tell me why this old lady isn't seen more in movies ?
I think she is adorable. Listen to her singing with the cast "barefoot days":

(She sang several songs in Distant Voices, Still Lives). The splendid soundtrack has been released on vinyl at the time by Rough Trade. It shows sometimes on Ebay or Eil. I bought mine last year.

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"All the films are imbued with tender memories of the communality of working-class life and the old forms of entertainment, such as listening to the radio, visiting the cinema and singing together."
Ewa Mazierska @ Screenonline

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This was the first 37 frames i have captured.
Next monday you will see PART 2.
In the meantime, any comments will be appreciated.