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Marjorie Yates, Leigh Mc Cormack, Anthony Watson, Ayse Owens, Tina Malone ... see more see more... , Jimmy Wilde , Patricia Morrison , Brenda Peters

Terence Davies' blissful, evocative and non-narrative follow-up to his Distant Voices, Still Lives follows a few months in the life of 12-year-old Bud (Leigh McCormack), in impressionistic snatches of... read more read more... his everyday existence growing up in the Liverpool of 1956. Bud's world is influenced by his mother (Marjorie Yates), his older sister Helen (Ayse Owens), and his older brothers John (Nicholas Lamont) and Kevin (Anthony Watson). Bud is a lonely and quiet child whose moments of solace occur when he sits in rapture at the local cinema, watching towering and iconic figures on the movie screen. The movies give Bud the strength to get through another day as he deals with his oppressive school environment and his burgeoning homosexuality. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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80% liked it

303 ratings

Critics

71% liked it

7 critics

PG, 1 hr. 22 min.

Directed by: Terence Davies

Release Date: September 12, 1992

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DVD Release Date: March 30, 1994

Stats: 52 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (52)

  • matertenebraum
    February 10, 2011
    matertenebraum
    If you see poetry as a way of looking at life- a particular awareness or appreciation perhaps- then this film is about as close as you can get to a representation of poetry on film (along with Davies earlier- and quite similar biographical film- 'Distant Voices, Still Lives').

    M... read moreemory sometimes reduces things into metonymy, and this could be used to explain the beautiful simplicity of the visuals- usually emphasising a certain aspect of living- time passing, light hitting a surface etc... bringing it out of obscurity and making the viewer focus singularly on that aspect... which is why this film could be labelled transcendental. Things that pass, or are taken for granted in everyday life transcend themselves in this film.

    If you have enjoyed this film I would strongly recommend that you see 'Distant Voices, Still Lives' as well as the great works of directors such as Robert Bresson and Andrei Tarkovsky- examples of other directors whose gaze turns life into poetry.
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  • McKittrick
    December 8, 2007
    McKittrick
    A follow up to the excellent 'Distant Voices, Still Lives' and, for me, an even better film.
    I haven't seen either film for many years but both films left a profound emotional effect on me. The Long Day Closes (as with Distant Voices) has quite a loose narrative structure and h... read moreas no plot as such. It's more a kind of meditation on memory, especially of childhood and working-class family life and it is quite heavy with nostalgia. In some sequences there is very little happening, becoming more abstract. But that's the beauty of it - it's deeply cinematic and it draws you into it's spell and I find it deeply moving.
    Terence Davies has only made a handful of films, I have only seen three and they are magnificent. The other film of his I have seen, The House of Mirth, he gave us a performance by Gillian Anderson that was so incredibly moving it made me realise how much she has been wasted all the years she was tied to playing Dana Skully in The X Files!
    I just wish Davies would make more films!
  • columbiatch
    January 16, 2009
    columbiatch
    Continuing with the autobiographical memoir of Distant Voices, Still Lives, this is even more poetic and abstract remembrance of Davies' childhood. While it abandons the stream of conscious structure of DVSL, and focuses only on one character, it is no less formally impressive. D... read moreavies was clearly a fan of classic Hollywood and this is his ode to it. He uses a lot of sound clips creatively from films like The Magnificient Amberson, Meet Me in St. Louis, but since I haven't seen them I do not always get how cleverly he uses them. Also I was not as emotionally moved as DVSL because the characters are held as arm's length. It's more of an impressionistic series of scenes than any sort of narrative, filled with lyrical, even surreal moments.
  • iamsamiracle
    October 22, 2008
    iamsamiracle
    A hallucinatory synaptic journey that finds breathtaking realism in surrealism. The film is constructed like a series of memories, where music acts as a bridge that defies space and time. It is instantly more realistic because of it's extreme stylization. Must see for all seri... read moreous film lovers.

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Critic Reviews

Fernando F. Croce
March 26, 2012
Fernando F. Croce, Slant Magazine

The Long Day Closes posits its pubescent protagonist as a tiny camera absorbing and transforming the reality all around him. Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
July 18, 2003
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

An inventive and lovely celebration of what director Terence Davies calls " the poetry of the ordinary." Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
January 1, 2000
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

This film is a love letter to the cinema. Full Review

Derek Elley
March 26, 2009
Derek Elley, Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Stephen Holden
August 30, 2004
Stephen Holden, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Peter Travers
May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

No review available.

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
July 2, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

July 30, 2003
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Click to read the article Full Review

Frank Swietek
March 4, 2003
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion

No review available.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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