MovieChat Forums > Of Time and the City (2008) Discussion > YAWN...

YAWN...

posted 14 years ago by BrianEJanssen
8 replies | jump to latest

I LOVE documentaries and saw that this was highly praised in reviews, so I was really looking forward to this film. Alas! I made it through 35 minutes and couldn't take it any more! (Maybe it gets really good after 36:00?!)

I am completely perplexed at the glowing reviews. I'm sure if I was over 60 years old and grew up in Liverpool I would be all over this, but outside of that "target audience" who is interested in these dull scenes? And Davies' narration was a mystery to me--half the time I kept wondering if he was quoting poetry or just trying to sound, uh, poetic.

I'm sure it's terribly unfair of me to judge the film without seeing the whole thing, but still...I wanted to turn it off at 15 minutes and forced myself to go another 20...enough is enough!

Till now, all I knew about Liverpool was that the Beatles came from there. And after watching the first 35 minutes of OT&TC, I still knew nothing interesting about the city, I knew no one who lived there, had no one to root for, was given no reason to connect it to my own experiences and past...It was like going to a stranger's house and watching a long slide show of their family trip to the Grand Canyon!

Yet, on Rotten Tomatoes' summary, 92% of the critics loved it! (Maybe there is an oddly high percentage of movie reviewers who are over 60 and grew up in Liverpool?)

[–] dagzine 14 years ago

well, there you are Brian. the world is full of boredom: dreadfully boring representations of itself. and now that you've woken from some dreadfully tepid sleep or stupor, whatever it is you escaped from, and have decided to dive headlong into language, maybe you can help us all find something truly enjoyable, uplifting, youthful and pleasing to watch. something you find, that you've heard about being wonderful that actually is wonderful: a thing that rather than perplexes you, frees you from the toils of thought, complexity, other minds, and judgment. something that just is darn good stuff.

when you do, please be so kind as to post about it right here.

i'm sure we'll all be so happy to congratulate you on finding something good that other people have said is good so that you too can enjoy a little bit of agreement in your life.

gn

I would tell you the whole story but I might puke if I did. --Holden Caulfield

[–] BrianEJanssen 14 years ago

Wow, you must have minored in sarcasm! :)

So, did you enjoy this movie then? And I'm guessing you don't actually want a list of some movies I (and other people) enjoyed, so I won't take the time here.

[–] RCRathgeber 14 years ago

I tried to watch it too, but his voice ..., his voice is so very annoying. Couldn't have done worse it he'd have hired Alan Alda to narrate it.

[–] BwlBoy 14 years ago

The narration is the only thing that lets an otherwise very poignant, interesting documentary down. This would have been better served by a narration by the likes of John Hurt, Josh Ackland, Richard Briers or Donald Sinden.

[–] hugelypopularbeef_193 14 years ago

To the original OP - I could not agree with you more. Not only is Davies' narrating style incredibly alienating - not to mention his constant pretentious quoting of poets and philosophers - but you really do learn nothing about Liverpool. The film's creatirs may claim Of Time And The City is Terrence Davies' love letter to Liverpool, but there's nothing to know about the city from this film and it in fact seems like Davies' love letter to himself. After all, any time we almost discover something interrupts about Liverpool, Davies again interrupts by telling another self-pitying or pompous story about his childhood. This film was a very disappointing experience for me.

[–] AssetsonFire 13 years ago

Yuk!

[–] ahrawrah 10 years ago

I love Davies' feature films, but I agree: damn this was boring. It was too close to his heart for me to like it. Too personal to him and alienating for me. It seemed like too much random images that didn't directly relate to his life, random quotes he liked and related to Liverpool.

[–] Prismark10 10 years ago

I was interested in this film. It started of well with archive footage and Davies reminiscing about his own personal history but did become dull rather quickly. I was grateful that he did not spend too much time on the Beatles.

Its that man again!!