This is billed as a documentary about post WWII Liverpool, but it is primarily autobiographical musings from director Davies who grew up in Liverpool in the 1950s. He has stitched together here archival footage, newsreels, amateur video, music, narration, quotes, and his own cinematic work to form an affecting whole.
The movie has a melancholy cast to it, thinking of how time erases places and people. Davies comments, "But where, oh, where are you, the Liverpool I knew and loved? Where have you gone without me? And now I am an alien in my own land." The images presented from the early times make life look difficult, but there is an authenticity to them. This was encapsulated for me in Davies' comment about sports being played at a time before the athletes punched the air in victory.
Davies has little truck with the public housing towers populating the City, commenting on municipal architecture as being dispiriting, illustrating "the British genius for evoking the dismal." He has strong opinions, often dished out as cynicism with a touch of humor. He refers to the British royalty of the time as the Betty Windsor show and Elizabeth and her husband as Betty and Phil. He refers to a Cardinal's new robes as the Vatican's answer to Schiaparelli. The Catholic Church comes in for some heavy criticism, in no small part because of the misery its position on homosexuality caused him. He came to view his time spent in prayer (until his knees bled he says) as wasted, proclaiming himself to be a born again atheist.
Davies has real genius for matching music with image, often for ironic effect. The score ranges from popular hits, like The Spinners version of "Dirty Old Town" and the Hollies version of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother," to the haunting choral piece "Privagheati si va rugati" by Branesti, the lush "Concertino for Guitar" by Bacarisse, and Mahler's Resurrection Symphony. The musical accompaniment is what raises this film above the ordinary--if someone does not appreciate that, then he will probably not much appreciate the film.
Much of the film is in black and white and rather downbeat. However, early on there are scenes of current Liverpool buildings filmed in color that use inspiring camera work, together with Handel's Water music, to create a positive image. The final scenes depict some of the stately statuary and majestic architecture of the City. The penultimate scene of the City skyline at the base of a rainbow, appropriately accompanied by Mahler's Resurrection Symphony, has the film ending on a somewhat upbeat note.
Davies intersperses quotes from famous people along the way, some of which he credits, but many he does not, like quotes from T.S. Eliot and Emily Dickinson. I was left wondering what was original with Davies. He has a good voice and narrates effectively.
Describing this film in words does disservice to it, it is like describing what a poem is about rather than experiencing the poem for yourself.
The movie has a melancholy cast to it, thinking of how time erases places and people. Davies comments, "But where, oh, where are you, the Liverpool I knew and loved? Where have you gone without me? And now I am an alien in my own land." The images presented from the early times make life look difficult, but there is an authenticity to them. This was encapsulated for me in Davies' comment about sports being played at a time before the athletes punched the air in victory.
Davies has little truck with the public housing towers populating the City, commenting on municipal architecture as being dispiriting, illustrating "the British genius for evoking the dismal." He has strong opinions, often dished out as cynicism with a touch of humor. He refers to the British royalty of the time as the Betty Windsor show and Elizabeth and her husband as Betty and Phil. He refers to a Cardinal's new robes as the Vatican's answer to Schiaparelli. The Catholic Church comes in for some heavy criticism, in no small part because of the misery its position on homosexuality caused him. He came to view his time spent in prayer (until his knees bled he says) as wasted, proclaiming himself to be a born again atheist.
Davies has real genius for matching music with image, often for ironic effect. The score ranges from popular hits, like The Spinners version of "Dirty Old Town" and the Hollies version of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother," to the haunting choral piece "Privagheati si va rugati" by Branesti, the lush "Concertino for Guitar" by Bacarisse, and Mahler's Resurrection Symphony. The musical accompaniment is what raises this film above the ordinary--if someone does not appreciate that, then he will probably not much appreciate the film.
Much of the film is in black and white and rather downbeat. However, early on there are scenes of current Liverpool buildings filmed in color that use inspiring camera work, together with Handel's Water music, to create a positive image. The final scenes depict some of the stately statuary and majestic architecture of the City. The penultimate scene of the City skyline at the base of a rainbow, appropriately accompanied by Mahler's Resurrection Symphony, has the film ending on a somewhat upbeat note.
Davies intersperses quotes from famous people along the way, some of which he credits, but many he does not, like quotes from T.S. Eliot and Emily Dickinson. I was left wondering what was original with Davies. He has a good voice and narrates effectively.
Describing this film in words does disservice to it, it is like describing what a poem is about rather than experiencing the poem for yourself.