Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)

“Reviving and revising the kitchen sink spirit of British cinema, [Terence] Davies relished in the sensual details of the world of his childhood, creating one of the most transfixing feature debuts in all of UK cinema.” — Metrograph

Winner of the Cannes ‘88 International Critics’ Prize. Loosely based on the director’s own family and upbringing, DISTANT VOICES is an evocative account of working-class life in Liverpool, England during the ‘40s and ‘50s. Births, marriages and deaths — and an expressive use of music — provide the underpinning for a beautiful, heartbreaking, resonant but never sentimental film.

Now regarded as a masterpiece of British cinema, and boasting a startling performance from Pete Postlethwaite (ROMEO + JULIET, INCEPTION) as the head of the family, DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES has been treated to a glorious 4K restoration by the British Film Institute.

For all the formal technique and the theatrically controlled tableaux, the drama is vividly present and alive.

Guardian

Just as you think you have its moves all doped out, a scene of such shocking beauty flashes before you that it takes your breath away.

Los Angeles Times