Stars: Wilfred Brambell

Director: Terence Davies

Summary: Three works by Terence Davies; CHILDREN, MADONNA AND CHILD and DEATH AND TRANSFIGURATION. Each short film represents a different stage in the life of a Liverpudlian clerk whose burgeoning homosexuality causes him much anguish and alienation from the Church.

British writer-director Terence Davies's (DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES) earliest films, shown together as a trilogy, are interwoven semi-autobiographical short films about one man's painful conflict between his homosexuality and religion. CHILDREN (1976) introduces Robert Tucker (played by several different actors in the films), a hangdog child beaten into silence by corporeal and emotional punishment from bullies, Catholic schoolteachers, and a violent father. Austere black and white images from Tucker's childhood are interlaced with incidents from his equally alienated young adulthood, which is defined by his dawning homosexuality. In MADONNA AND CHILD (1980), Tucker is a hollow-eyed, middle-aged Liverpool office worker living with his beloved elderly mother. Beneath his bland exterior, Tucker is ravaged by guilt over his sexuality and inability to find solace in the Church. Davies artfully juxtaposes religious imagery and music with scenes from Tucker's increasingly sadomasochistic sex life. In the closing DEATH AND TRANSFIGURATION (1983), Tucker is a decrepit old man in a hospital bed, robbed of speech by a stroke – but still haunted by images from his troubled life. Davies skilfully merges time and different styles of evocative music to create a dreamlike, moving vision of one man's isolation, repression, and grief.

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Aspect Ratio:	4:3 Full Frame
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Director's commentary, Interview with director, Fully illustrated booklet
Year:	1976
Release Date:	July 28, 2008
Runtime:	96 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B F I V D 752
Keywords:	World, Film, Death, Child, Children, English, General, Davies, Gay, Short, Madonna, Terence, Trilogy, Drama, Cinema, Transfiguration
Genre:	Drama