The house of mirth by terence davies gillian anderson, eric. The movie is an interesting film but ultimately unsatisfying. While on a train, a teenage boy thinks about his life and the flamboyant aunt whose friendship acted as an emotional shield from his troubled family. The terence davies trilogy nonusa format, pal, reg. In between his autobiographical work, davies seems to have developed a penchant for adapting great literature. An american cousin to his distant voices, still lives, terence davies the neon bible is an autobiographical memory film that ponders the. The neon bible tells the story of david, a young boy growing up in a small southern town in the 1940s. Similar to daviess autobiographical trilogy, the film is a series of remembrances by 15year old david jacob tierney, who reflects back on his troubled childhood while riding a train to an unknown future. Jacob tierney, drake bell, gena rowlands, diana scarwid, denis leary, bob hannah, aaron frisch, charles franzen, leo burmester, sherry. Toole, describing the novel during correspondence with an editor, wrote in 1954, when i was 16, i wrote a book called the neon bible, a grim.
Davids voice is perfectly calibrated, disarmingly funny, sad, shrewd, gathering force from page to page with an emotional directness that never lapses into sentimentality. Director terence davies paces it like a funeral procession. A flaw in terence davies is that koreskys admiration for his subject is sometimes a little too evident. If much of the rest of the movie tends to be clunky as narrative. An exemplary literary adaptation by terence davies that relates the decline of a society beauty in late 19th century new york. Several scenes recall moments in davies previous films so strongly that if it werent. He is one of the most acclaimed british filmmakers of the present. Famed auteur terence davies continues to funnel his feelings of ostracism into powerful art with his latest film, sunset song. The film is about a boy named david coming of age in georgia in the 1940s. He recently answered some questions about his book in the contemporary film directors series, terence davies.
The only thing i can say is that its a transition work. Terence davies terence davies has made some of the most innovative, harrowing, and hauntingly lyrical films of the contemporary era. Michael koresky is staff writer and associate editor at the criterion collection and cofounder of the online film magazine reverse shot. Despite its american setting, the neon bible doesnt depart from the british directors stylistic tactics. The neon bible sets lyrical tone las vegas sun newspaper. With jacob tierney, drake bell, gena rowlands, diana scarwid. Strong acting cant help neon bible overcome weak plot this week at the kendall the neon bible directed by terence davies.
Five sublime sequences in terence davies films bfi. To see more information about the formats below, either click on the format headings in this list of examples or hover your cursor over the bibliography entries menu and select the format you want. Hes very adept at showing the lives of ordinary people in the past. Interview with terence davies, film maker film the guardian.
The neon bible when terence davies, best known up to then for his liverpool trilogy detailing his upbringing in a dysfunctional family, went to america to make his first usbased film there. Film the neon bible is a 1995 drama film written and directed by terence davies, based on the novel of the same name by john kennedy toole. Terence davies is the terrence malick ive always wanted. After earning accolades for his stylized, nostalgia pieces about his workingclass upbringing, davies turned toward adaptation with his 1995 film of john kennedy tooles novel the neon bible. Two paradoxical facts about terence daviess first film adaptation.
Now, after a sixyear silence, he is breaking into america. The neon bible, writerdirector terence davies first literary adaptation, is based on john kennedy tooles coming of age story set in the 1930s and 1940s bible belt. His abusive father denis leary enlists in the army during world war ii and disappears. Davies was notis notout and proud, but homosexual and not all that. Dec 01, 2007 john kennedy toolewho won a posthumous pulitzer prize for his bestselling comic masterpiece a confederacy of dunceswrote the neon bible for a literary contest at the age of sixteen. The film is about a boy named david jacob tierney coming of age in georgia in the 1940s. There are many such fleeting poetic moments in the neon bible moments so ecstatic that you may feel yourself rising off your seat. I appreciate that he is humble enough to admit this is not his best work. The neon bible is the first of davies films to draw on source material independent of his direct experience, to be filmed outside of england in atlanta, madison and crawfordville in georgia, to deploy a highly selfconscious use of the wide, sometimes compartmentalised cinemascope frame, to foreground a more expressive and fullyrounded mode of performance, and to develop an expanded tonal palette. Gena rowlands sings my romance the neon bible terence davies, 1995. The neon bible is terence davies first film to be set in the united states. John kennedy toolewho won a posthumous pulitzer prize for his bestselling comic masterpiece a confederacy of dunceswrote the neon bible for a literary contest at the age of sixteen. You feel that all the decisions you made have been completely wrong.
May, 2016 the rolling green meadows and the radiant face of chris guthrie agyness deyn, a bright, hardworking scottish farm girl in terence daviess film sunset song fuse into a luminous vision. The neon bible sets lyrical tone with glowing images and. A moving evocation of the smalltown south in the midtwentieth century that belongs on the shelf with the works of flannery oconnor, carson mccullers, and eudora welty orlando sentinel. The neon bible terence davies has left his native liverpool far behind but has retained the themes and style of his two fine british films, distant voices still lives and the long day closes. That the neon bible was a carbon copy of daviess two previous films. The cinema of terence davies has drawn on the books and plays of edith wharton the house of mirth, john kennedy toole the neon bible, and terence rattigan the deep blue sea. His abusive father enlists in the army during world war ii and disappears, leaving david to take care of his mother with his aunt mae, who is a singer. Stephanie astalosjones, ian shearer, terence davies, elizabeth karlsen. The hero, david, is a sensitive boy of the povertystricken south of the 1930s. Terence davies filmic, musicfilled homage to liverpool, the city he grew up in. Sea 2008 of time and the city 2000 the house of mirth 1995 the neon bible 1992 the long day. This study of his work combines detailed analysis of all his films with an.
Sunset song, terence davies adaptation of lewis grassic gibbons wwiera novel of the same name, is a longgestating passion project that appears to have over the years of development near. Davies ranks alongside bill douglas, peter greenaway and derek jarman among the great mavericks of british cinema and is one. There are many such fleeting poetic moments in the neon bible moments so ecstatic that you may feel yourself rising off your. Davies unusually linear script retells a comingofage story in the deep south that sits in marked contrast to his more familiar northern england locales. The neon bible may not qualify as a masterpiece, as distant voices, still lives and the long day closes do, but it still contains moments and achievements that are as impressive as anything davies has ever doneand to have done this with alien material makes his achievement even more remarkable. Davies ranks alongside bill douglas, peter greenaway and derek jarman among the great mavericks of. Quotes after the house of mirth 2000 i did absolutely touch bottom, i must say, and despair is awful because its worse than any pain. And i couldnt have done the house of mirth without it. Starring gena rowlands, denis leary, diana scarwid. Terence davies celebrity profile check out the latest terence davies photo gallery, biography, pics, pictures, interviews, news, forums and blogs at rotten tomatoes. Movies have a tendency to trivialize great books, and i predicted that the neon bible might, in cinematic form, degenerate into a depressing slog. Oct 05, 2000 with a moving series of films about his brutal childhood, liverpudlian film maker terence davies quietly revolutionised british cinema. Terence davies is a perceptive exploration into the.
Terence davies by wendy everett, 9780719060625, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. It is the 1940s and his father has lost his job and has turned abusive on his emotionally fragile mother. Gena rowlands sings a sanctified song in the film adaptation of john kennedy tooles the neon bible. Terence davies applies his highly personal filmmaking in adapting the novel written by a then 16 year old john kennedy toole. I was interested in the nature of the book, which is actually about failure. Photographed by mick coulter, who worked with davies on the long day closes, the neon bible is a beautifully. As a result, the neon bible keeps the audience at emotional arms length despite strong performances from gena rowlands as a faded showgirl and diana scarwid as an emotionally disintegrating mother. A young boy comes of age in rural georgia during the 1930 and the 1940s in this visually satisfying but thematically flawed and dramatically inert 1995 drama, by far davies weakest work. A young boy comes of age in rural georgia during the 1940s in terence davies challenging, visually powerful drama. Terence davies has left his native liverpool far behind but has retained the themes and style of his two fine british films, distant voices still lives and the long day closes in the neon bible, a.
The neon bible gives us plenty to think about long after its over. Strong acting cant help neon bible overcome weak plot. His early works distant voices, still lives and the long day closes were autobiographical. Gena rowlands sings my romance the neon bible terence. Cannes, france the hero of the neon bible is a boy named david, growing up in a small southern town during world war ii. Terence davies born 10 november 1945 is an english screenwriter, film director, novelist and actor. An american cousin to his distant voices, still lives, terence davies the neon bible is an autobiographical memory film that ponders the childhood mysteries of growing up in a troubled family. As with all davies work, the neon bible has been imbued with davies wonderful sense of subtly evocative visuals courtesy of cinematographer michael coulter and an affecting soundtrack, redolent of his chosen period of 1940s50s smalltown america. Acclaimed for his nostalgic, beautifully photographed reflections on englands past the long day closes, distant voices, still lives, davies looks beyond his home country to america with this adaptation. Shop movies directed by terence davies on dvd, vhs, and rare video formats at alibris uk. Again, the film looks brilliant, so its far from a complete failure. Mar 23, 2012 terence daviess new film, the deep blue sea which opens today, features one of the greatest tracking shots in the history of cinema. It takes a heavy subject and treats it mostly superficially.
Following a five year absence, davies returned to the big screen with a beautifully realized adaptation of edith whartons novel the house of mirth. This influence comes across in all of his films and especially with the neon bible. The neon bible is a film about a young boy named david who tries to escape from a small southern bible belt town. He took on john kennedy tooles the neon bible in 1995, before achieving widespread acclaim for his faithful version of edith whartons the house of mirth in 2000. The neon bible dvd at the neon bible this book by john kennedy toole is a fascinating story about growing up poor in rural america in the middle part of the century. Some great images but you could really tell it was badly adapted from a book. The film the neon bible was directed by terence davies, with a screenplay by davies based on tooles novel. Its main appeal is as an early look at the writer who would later write a confederacy of dunces. The house of mirth, with its purely linear narrative and nonautobiographical content, continues davies evolution. Mayfair films, academy, channel four films, iberoamerica films. The film the neon bible was directed by terence davies, with a screenplay. The neon bible, which the new york film festival is showing at alice tully hall tonight at 9 and tomorrow night at 6, is narrated by a boy, david, growing up impoverished and friendless in rural. Acclaimed for his nostalgic, beautifully photographed reflections on englands past the long day closes, distant voices, still lives, davies looks beyond his home country to. The cast includes drake bell, leo burmester, denis leary, peter mcrobbie, gena rowlands, diana scarwid and jacob tierney.
The neon bible by terence davies gena rowlands, jacob. The neon bible is a 1995 drama film written and directed by terence davies, based on the novel of the same name by john kennedy toole. Mar 23, 2012 the neon bible, a gorgeous but confused adaptation of john kennedy tooles precocious first novel, was a loving, if not quite successful, vehicle for gene rowlands, the john cassavetes diva. Director terence davies said the neon bible doesnt work, and thats entirely my fault. The film is about a boy named david coming of age in georgia.
Terence davies the neon bible is the story of a downatheel, southern. I first saw terence davies the neon bible when it was released in. The manuscript languished in a drawer and became the subject of a legal battle among tooles heirs. The difference between terrence davies and a hack is that when the latter. When his aunt mae comes to visit, davids world opens up. Newspaper article the christian science monitor the neon bible sets lyrical tone with glowing images and expressive acting, film director terence davies probes the intense perceptions of a youth. His abusive father enlists in the army during world war ii and disappears and david is left to take care of his mother with his aunt mae who is a singer. When terence davies, best known up to then for his liverpool trilogy detailing his upbringing in a dysfunctional family, went to america to make his first usbased film there.
787 200 756 495 468 884 631 1008 1019 1207 1092 1480 861 465 55 1324 1407 240 1274 805 1067 666 365 1273 143 445 422 139 891 1001