Of Time and the City

Davies' narration contains amusingly phrased disdain towards The Beatles, Church and Monarchy in this poetic, elegaic and melancholic film. The poetry he reads didn't always work for me as I found myself wanting instead to hear more of his personal and entertaining commentary or indeed no commentary at all as the moments that are really special are those where nothing need be said - bored kids playing in the street, soldiers kissing loved ones goodbye and towering, monstrous '60s architecture.

Kudos to the wife (jstry) for her likening of the viewing experience to poring over a diary, or a collection of worn postcards. A true labor of love by Davies, who directed, wrote and narrated this look back at the (d)evolution of Liverpool, starting with his early years and ending in the present day. Although my unfamiliarity with the city itself certainly hampered my level of enjoyment, I was impressed that he was able to convey some nostalgia inside me for a place that I had never been.

This film was a piece of art, depicting an ever-changing, ever-decaying city. At times, I felt like I was flipping through a diary -- or a collection of personal postcards from a time gone by, only with video footage to accompany them. Those moments, those images -- like the women doing their daily chores, the kids playing in the street -- were pretty remarkable to me. At other times, however, it was pretty dull and I wished I could fast forward.

Viewed August 31, 2020.

Bitterness, played to classical music. It made for an interesting disjunction, but too often the film feels small in the shots Davies takes at the past.

(2nd viewing)

Disappointing. Davies feels like the perfect director for this bittersweet reflection on time and memory using the shifting cityscape of Liverpool as its subject, but the effect is self indulgent rather than personal, and it seems more bitter and smarmy than neceessary. No Davies didn't have the best childhood, but he allows his own negative experiences to overwhelm the greater insights that could be made about the connection between people and place and the ephemeral nature of all things.

As a picture or history of the city it fails, from the archive footage to the new a 30-ish year period in which the population decreased by around 40% was missing, I guess he doesn't visit that often. Unexpectedly over-the-top and deeply personal "nothing succeeds like excess" though and he won me over but, I can see why some wouldn't like it.

Watched all of this with forced intense concentration because of the way film critic Mark Kermode described it as one the greatest films he had ever seen. And like his fellow media guests I cannot understand why he believes this. The dialogue is poetry rather than prose, but the stock footage/ music which probably does mean a lot to people who lived in Liverpool decades ago means little to me.

I love Liverpool. It's one of my favourite places to visit and to be. But fuck me if the Scouse aren't a dramatic and self-involved bunch. Still this a wonderful poem to a great city, and if nothing else confirms that the 1970's really were grim as fuck.

Evocative and nostalgic collection of images about Liverpool. Highly personal and quite compelling, I felt the overall picture it created was some what grim and sad.

Of Time and The City should inspire moviegoers to pursue full recognition of their cultural experience. Davies doesn't detach art from life; he knows it's the key to what makes us citizens and humans.

"Of Time and the City never less than throbs with emotion, a reminder of what a loss Davies's absence from the screen has been." - Fernando F. Croce

Although it follows it's own pattern (music, narration, music, narration. I could've done with more narration), this is a nostalgic swan-song for Davie's home-town. You don't have to be a geriatric Liverpool-born to appreciate this beautiful documentary, it can be held universally (I, at many times, recalled my likes and dislikes of my own home-town). Does feel like Davies has a sleight of "things were better back in my day" in his view, but thankfully he expresses this with sardonic humour.

4 Nisan 09, 28. ist. film fest. & 19:00 | Beyoglu sinemasi & basarisiz monologlar, kotu kullanilmis goruntuler ve liverpool un hakkini veremeyen bir 'liverpool filmi'. Hele hele maddin'in my winnipeg'i ile karislastirmak buyuk bir ayip.