THE TERENCE DAVIES TRILOGY

CHILDREN
1976, 46 min

MADONNA AND CHILD
1980, 26 min

DEATH AND TRANSFIGURATION
GB 1983, 30 min

Davies did not so much burst onto the scene but quietly tapped us on the shoulder, asking us to consider those figures who defined his youth: working-class Scousers struggling to hold fast to God and tradition as postwar modernity sent them hurtling into an uncertain future. Robert Tucker, the central figure of the trilogy, is depicted from his school days right up to his death. But frequently, Davies uses the material presence of film to concretize his subjectivity, defined as it is by crucial moments from the past. CHILDREN shows an adult Robert gazing at his younger self. In MADONNA AND CHILD, Robert grieves the death of his mother while secretly exploring his gay desires. And DEATH AND TRANSFIGURATION finds Robert on his deathbed, reliving memories of his troubled childhood. The fear and seduction of Catholicism, the expression of collective struggle through popular song, the violence of men and the forbearance of women, all feature prominently here. In this way, the blueprint for Davies’ later work has already been established. (Michael Sicinski)