Of Time and the City

Of Time and the City is a 2008 British documentary collage film directed by Terence Davies. The film has Davies recalling his life growing up in Liverpool in the 1950s and 1960s, using newsreel and documentary footage supplemented by his own commentary voiceover and contemporaneous and classical music soundtracks.

Of Time and the City
Directed byTerence Davies
Written byTerence Davies
Produced bySolon Papadopoulos, Roy Boulter
CinematographyTim Pollard
Edited byLiza Ryan-Carter
Music byIan Neil
Distributed byBritish Film Institute
Release dates
  • 28 May 2008 (2008-05-28) (Cannes Film Festival)
  • 31 October 2008 (2008-10-31) (United Kingdom)
Running time
72 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom

The film premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival where it received rave reviews.[1] Time Out said "The one truly great movie to emerge so far (from Cannes)..... this film is as personal, as universal in its relevance, and as gloriously cinematic as anything he has done"[1] and The Guardian called it "a British masterpiece, a brilliant assemblage of images that illuminate our past. Not only does it tug the heart-strings but it's also savagely funny."[1] BBC TV film critic Mark Kermode nominated it as the best overall film of 2008 on his "Kermode Awards" section of The Culture Show. In 2018 Kermode placed the film at number one in a list of his favourite films of the previous ten years (2008-2018).[2] Duane Byrge from The Hollywood Reporter lauded the film as "poetically composed" and a "masterwork".[3]

Of Time and the City won Best Documentary in the Australian Film Critics Association awards for 2009. Following the success of the film, in 2010 the website People’s Stories: Liverpool Lives was launched with Heritage Lottery funding, created for Of Time and the City producer Sol Papadopoulos by transmedia creator Krishna Stott. For the launch the site the actors Jonathan Pryce, Alexei Sayle and Joe McGann contributed their own memories of the city.[4][5]

References within the film

Poetry and literature

Music

Films

Fashion

Landmarks

Nearby locales

Regular events

Sports

Celebrities

Scholars

Radio programmes

Laws

Religious leaders

Historical figures

Contemporary

[9]

Reception

The film was almost universally acclaimed,[10] with praise mostly focusing on its warmth and heartfelt approach. It holds a 95% 'certified fresh' critical score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 56 reviews.[11] On Metacritic, it holds an 81% critical score based on 9 reviews, indicating universal acclaim.[12]

It has been described as "a mesmerizing and eloquent essay" by Jonathan Rosenbaum of Chicago Reader,[13] "a warm and extremely thoughtful journey, with a deliberately bare-bones narrative" by Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle,[14] "a distinct pleasure to experience" by Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times,[15] "mesmerizing, visceral and heartfelt" by Geoff Pevere of the Toronto Star,[16] "a short, beautiful, characteristically sublime memory piece" by Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly,[17] "a wistful, funny, satirical, angry and forgiving portrait" by Sean Axmaker of Parallax View,[18] and "a visual poem" by Dennis Schwartz of Ozus' World Movie Reviews.[19] In 2018, Mark Kermode chose it as his favourite film of the last ten years.[20]

People’s Stories - Liverpool’s social history website

In 2010 - 'in response' to the film - the website People’s Stories: Liverpool Lives was launched.[5] With Heritage Lottery funding, the website was created for Of Time and the City producer Sol Papadopoulos by transmedia creator Krishna Stott.[21] Stott described the project as 'a community-based site of user generated content for Liverpudlians and the scouse diaspora'.[4] Actors Jonathan Pryce, Alexei Sayle and Joe McGann contributed their own memories of the city as part of the launch. The site was a place for members of the public to upload and share their stories, films, or photographs. Papadopoulos commented: 'We had Liverpudlians from all over the world wanting to tell their story, inspired by the way Terence had told his'.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Liverpool film portrait takes Cannes film festival by storm". Liverpool Daily Post. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  2. "Have You Seen Mark Kermode's Favourite Films of the last Ten Years". HITC Culture. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  3. Byrge, Duane (21 May 2008). "Of Time and the City". The Hollywood Reporter, the Daily from Cannes. Cannes (8): 10.
  4. "Mediography". Krishna Stott. Bellyfeel. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  5. Jones, Catherine. "A new website for Liverpool reminiscences is launched after the success of Terence Davies movie Of Time and the City". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  6. Pevere, Geoff (23 January 2009). "In search of lost time". Toronto Star. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  7. "Film review: Of Time and the City". The Guardian. 31 October 2008. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022.
  8. AV Club
  9. "Terence Davies, In Search Of Lost Liverpool". NPR. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023.
  10. BFI
  11. "Of Time and the City (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  12. "Of Time and the City Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  13. Rosenbaum, Jonathan. "Of Time and the City". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  14. Hartlaub, Peter (13 February 2009). "Movie review: Enjoy 'Of Time and the City'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  15. Turan, Kenneth (30 January 2009). "Review: 'Of Time and the City'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  16. Pevere, Geoff (23 January 2009). "Of Time and the City: How Liverpool lost its groove". Toronto Star. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  17. Schwarzbaum, Lisa (23 January 2009). "Of Time and the City". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  18. Axmaker, Sean (12 May 2009). "Of Time and the City and Alexander Korda – DVDs for the week". Parallax View. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  19. Schwartz, Dennis (26 March 2011). "Of Time and the City". Ozus' World Movie Reviews. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  20. "Kermode Uncut: My Top Ten Films Of The Last Ten Years - Part Two". YouTube. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  21. "Of Time and the City Presspack" (PDF). Bellyfeel. Bellyfeel. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
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