Review of The Terence Davies Trilogy

This has to be one of British cinemas unsung masterpieces.In three parts equating to childhood manhood and old age it painstakingly delineates the details of a very ordinary life.Filmed in B/W it has a documentary feel to it and its Liverpool setting is indeed bleak.The main character is based on the life of the writer of the film Terence Davies and as such is autobiography as catharsis and confession.He is gay at a time when homosexuality was illegal in England and the stifling effects of his strict catholic upbringing only serve to deepen his guilt. It is a bleak story with some stark and terrifying imagery.Wilfrid Bramble aka Steptoe plays Daveies as the old man brilliantly.The deathbed scene and the way it is shot stay in the mind for ages. So with no light relief why see this?I can only say that it has a humanity and insight that are rare in cinema.He is in the same league as Loach and Leigh.