The Terence Davies Trilogy

Like the Bill Douglas trilogy, and made just a few years later. But whereas Bill Douglas is closely autobiographical, and thus about the film-maker, the Terence Davies films are more generally about suffering, loosely based on autobiography. A grim childhood, a young adult, a dying man. It was a relief to watch the extra feature on the DVD, in colour instead of gritty mono, an interview with Davies, who came over as reassuringly serious but cheerful, and willing to admit that the trilogy was made at a very dark time in his life. Wonderful to see storytelling with a minimum of story telling: stories told visually have impact, are much more compact, than anything spoken in dialogue. I look forward to Of Time and the City, out next month.