- Also Known As:
- Unknown
- Year:
- 2008
- Country/ies:
- UK
- Predominant Genre:
- Non-fiction
- Author(s)/Director(s):
- Terence DAVIES
- Outstanding Performance(s):
- None
- Premiss:
- A filmmaker looks at the history and transformation of his birthplace.
- Theme(s):
- Alienation
- Christianity
- Compassion
- Emotional repression
- Guilt
- Loneliness
- Original Sin
- Personal change
- Political Correctness
- Self-expression
- White culture
- White supremacy
- Similar (in Plot, Theme or Style) to:
- Unknown
- Review Format:
- DVD
A homosexual slant on the UK City of Liverpool from an atheist who thanks God for his lack of religious faith and belief: A man raised on Roman Catholic pieties and the criminalization of sodomy.
Damnation-without-compassion informs this documentary poem, allied with a poor and loving upbringing. Director Terence DAVIES has understandable contempt for the fossilized nature of UK culture, particularly as embodied in the gilded monarchy of a declining post-colonial Western state.
The film focuses on the manifold problems of the United Kingdom, rather than the beauties (few though they are), yet this work refuses to be downhearted in its essential desire to provide esthetic solace. It does this by reveling in the revelation of the director’s ongoing love affair with Liverpool that, despite its many failings, is still – for him - a place called Home.
This film is a clever mix of rose-tinted nostalgia and realism that pulls no punches. It is autobiography of a high order, but too subjective and opinionated to be truly great despite the excellent choice of music and the director’s heartfelt voiceover.
Copyright © 2014 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute this posting in any format; provided mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.
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