‘Love letter to Liverpool’ gets premiere at the Phil

Oct 10 2008 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

Terence Davies, renown British Film-maker _320

THE director of a new film about Liverpool last night said he was “relieved and happy” after its world premiere at the Philharmonic Hall.

Terence Davies’s film, Of Time and the City, is described as a “cinematic love letter to his native Liverpool,” and was specially commissioned to celebrate the city’s year as European Capital of Culture.

A packed audience, made up of VIPs and members of the public, was at the Phil for the film’s first official showing ahead of its general release on October 31.

Narrated by Davies, the film uses archive footage of a bygone Liverpool and charts the director’s shifting relationship with the city.

After the screening, Mr Davies, 62 – whose earlier films include Distant Voices, Still Lives – said: “They seemed to like it a lot, which is always wonderful. Only two people walked out.

“Once the film is complete, there is nothing you can do. The thing is fixed and you can’t change it.

“When I see it with an audience, it becomes a completely different film – I don’t see it with any kind of distance.

“The film is a subjective piece, I always said it would be and some people may not agree with it.”

Last night’s premiere was attended by many people involved in the production of the film, along with local and national politicians.