Cast: Marjorie Yates, Leigh McCormack, Anthony Watson, Nicholas Lamont, Ayse Owens
Director: Terence Davies
Producer: Olivia Stewart
Screenplay: Terrance Davies
Cinematography: Michael Coulter
Music: Bob Last
U.S. Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
The Long Day Closes takes several months in the life of Bud (Leigh McCormack), a twelve year old boy growing up in 1956 Liverpool, and gives us a series of glimpses into some of the most ordinary, everyday moments that occur. This movie has no plot and little characterization. It moves along at a snail's pace, progressively losing more of the audience as it becomes apparent that absolutely nothing is going to happen.
The Long Day Closes is very much the visual equivalent of a verse or a poem: beautiful images, but no narrative. This movie is a visual feast and a cinematographer's dream, but for the average movie-goer, eighty-three minutes of odd camera-angles and interesting shots is too much. Movies can often survive without coherent stories if they have solid, three-dimensional characters. The Long Day Closes has neither and, as a result, drags. Numerous opportunities for character development are left dangling, and we're forced to watch a bunch of people we never get to feel for. Even Bud, who's in nearly every scene, is uninteresting.
Supposedly, Terence Davies has filmed his childhood memories. That's an interesting notion, and in the context of the movie, it's easy to see how this could be the case -- a great deal of attention is paid to the smallest details. Unfortunately, except in unusual circumstances, the mundane recollections of a person aren't the kinds of cinematic gems designed to captivate an audience. There are a few incidents in The Long Day Closes that briefly caught my attention, but they couldn't hold it. On those rare occasions when the film managed to strike a responsive chord, it let the opportunity slip away.
I can't recommend The Long Day Closes to any but the most devout art film students and die-hard lovers of unusual cinematography. For anyone else that happens to see this movie, they will likely find the title to be appropriate. After getting out of the theater, it will certainly seem like it's been a long day.
© 1993 James Berardinelli