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TERENCE DAVIES (MAC, Nov 3)

24-10-2007

One of Britain's most respected arthouse directors Terence Davies comes to Birmingham next week for a unique afternoon where he'll introducing two of his best known films and taking questions from the audience.

Davies is part of a wave of literate British cinema, swept aside by the commercial sensibilities of the 90's.

Romcoms like "Four Weddings And A Funeral" on one hand, and bloody gangster movies of the "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" school on the other became the flavour of the day.

That left Davies - who is often bracketed with the likes of Peter Greenaway and Derek Jarman - floundering for funding, but he has nonetheless created an impressive, if slim body of work.

Anybody who wants to understand why Hollywood doesn't/shouldn't have a monopoly on creative film-making would be advised to check him out at MAC, on Novermber 3.

There'll be a chance to see Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), his highly autobiographical evocation of 1950's, working class Liverpool which has made the BFI'slist of the Top 100 British films.

That's paired with The House of Mirth, Davies adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel, starring Dan Ackroyd.

All that, and the chance to quiz the man himself about the loss of an artistic vision for British movies.

Recommended.

An Afternoon With Terence Davies is at MAC at 2.30pm on November 3.

Tickets from www.macarts.co.uk