Review of The Long Day Closes (1992) by Dean B — 29 Jan 2010

Oh, joy and rapture! Terrence Davies' masterpiece, "The Long Day Closes" has returned to theaters, and not a moment too soon. In a world of Michael Bay and Baz Luhrman and other directors who never met a cutaway they didn't love, what a treat it is to settle in and watch Davies work--a man unafraid to focus on a rainy Liverpool street in one unbroken shot for the duration that it takes Nat King Cole to sing the first half of "Stardust.

" "Deliberate" is an understated (and, let's be frank, kind) way to describe Davies' style; the first ten minutes may prove to be an endurance test for many modern moviegoers, as the movie settles into its extremely delicate (read: slooooowwwwww) rhythms.

(Ang Lee is just one filmmaker who is a stylistic cousin to Davies.) But as this somber, beautiful drama of a young man coming-of-age in the 50's gains traction, you begin to notice a zillion tiny details--the way a lace cloth dropped from a window settles on a mother like a long-forgotten wedding veil, Davies' use of shadows and light (Scorsese and Spielberg would plotz), the snippets of pop music and film audio clips that underscore key moments.

(One sequence, breathtaking in its audacity, is shot from above, as various characters attend church, school, and the movies while Debbie Reynolds croons "Tammy"--it's as rapturous a view of daily life as you'll find in cinema.

) But Davies isn't just a sentimentalist making pretty pictures; there are cracks in this lovely facade, and some serious jolts--a nightmare for Our Boy that's astonishing just for the sudden horror of it; a black man mistakenly wandering into the wrong house, and suddenly exposing a vein of racism and fear in people we think we like; a Catholic crucifixion scene that suddenly exposes the boy's hidden, subconcious desires.

(It's the most jarring, Freudian thing this side of Madonna.) Throughout it all, the boy--presumably young Terrence--struggles towards adolescence, and the creeping feeling that something about him "isn't right"--fans of the nascent gay boys in "This Boy's Life" "Billy Elliot" and "Beautiful People" will feel a pang watching his struggle.

But the film as a whole is about much more than just Terrence's orientation; it encompasses a whole world, sometimes wonderful and sometimes terrible, and how a young man tries to navigate it. "The Long Day Closes" thus ranks up there with "The 400 Blows" "E.

T. the Extra-Terrestrial" "My Life As A Dog" and other classics about lonely boys coming of age. (It's not necessary to have seen Davies' brutal, shattering prequel "Distant Voices, Still Lives" to appreciate this film, but it sure doesn't hurt--well, actually, watching what the characters in "Distant Voices" go through does hurt.

) "Long Day Closes" also bruises your heart, but it's a sweet, tender pain you'll never forget.