Terence Davies, the accomplished and thoughtful director behind such films as Distant Voices, Still Lives, The House Of Mirth and, most recently, Benediction, about World War II poet Siegfried Sassoon, had died. Davies, who began his career making autobiographical short films but switched to literary adaptations and dramas, which nevertheless kept an emotionally affecting through line. Dying at home after a short illness, Davies was 77.
Born in Liverpool to a large Catholic family (which informed much of his early film work), Davies spent a decade as a clerk before attending Coventry Drama School, and starting to make short films. He followed that up with the National Film School. His three initial shorts are Children, Madonna And Child and Death And Transfiguration all tackled autobiographical stories of emotion and religion.
When he started making feature films, his first two efforts, Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes were also inspired by his life, and quickly began landing on Best British Film Lists.
Davies also became known for films based on literary work, with The Neon Bible and The House Of Mirth among early favourites. When he couldn't rustle up funding to finish Sunset Song (he would eventually get it made in 2015), he switched to producing radio plays and documentary work, including 2008's Of Time And The City, a tribute to his home town.
A widely acclaimed return to literary adaptation, The Deep Blue Sea followed, then Sunset Song, A Quiet Passion and 2021's Benediction, which would become his final film.
“It would have been nice to be acknowledged by Bafta. Again, there’s also part of me that thinks: isn’t it just vanity? If a film lives every time it’s seen, that’s the real reward,” he told the Guardian last year. “I think I’ve achieved what I set out to do.”