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Three short films by director Terence Davies:
- Children (1976)
- Madonna and the Child (1980)
- Death and Transfiguration (1983)
British writer-director Terence Davies`s (DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES) earliest films, shown together as a trilogy, are interwoven semi-autobiographical short films about one man`s painful conflict between his homosexuality and religion. CHILDREN (1976) introduces Robert Tucker (played by several different actors in the films), a hangdog child beaten into silence by corporeal and emotional punishment from bullies, Catholic schoolteachers, and a violent father. Austere black and white images from Tucker`s childhood are interlaced with incidents from his equally alienated young adulthood, which is defined by his dawning homosexuality. In MADONNA AND CHILD (1980), Tucker is a hollow-eyed, middle-aged Liverpool office worker living with his beloved elderly mother. Beneath his bland exterior, Tucker is ravaged by guilt over his sexuality and inability to find solace in the Church. Davies artfully juxtaposes religious imagery and music with scenes from Tucker`s increasingly sadomasochistic sex life. In the closing DEATH AND TRANSFIGURATION (1983), Tucker is a decrepit old man in a hospital bed, robbed of speech by a stroke - but still haunted by images from his troubled life. Davies skilfully merges time and different styles of evocative music to create a dreamlike, moving vision of one man`s isolation, repression, and grief.
Terence Davies