Of Time and the City (2009)
81%RT Audience Score: 67%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
2 wins & 11 nominations total
Terrence Davies’ heartfelt, sometimes funny new feature documentary is part scrapbook, part confessional
Of Time and the City is like a love letter to Liverpool, written by a filmmaker who can’t quite shake off his complicated feelings for his hometown. Terence Davies’ first documentary is a visual poem that invites viewers to reflect on the transience of life and the pain of distance from one’s roots. While some critics found it pompous and self-aggrandizing, others praised its elegantly expressed melancholy and satirical humor. As for me, I recommend this film with a caveat: don’t expect a straightforward narrative or a feel-good story. Instead, be prepared to immerse yourself in Davies’ poetic vision and let it take you on a journey through time and memory.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions,
Distributor
Strand Releasing
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2008
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 12m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United Kingdom
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 21, 2009 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 12, 2009
Genre(s)
Documentary/Biography
Keyword(s)
documentary, biography, Terence Davies, Liverpool, England, newsreel, documentary footage, memory, identity, childhood, movie palaces, archival footage, royal family, Beatles, nostalgia, black-and-white, music, T S Eliot, P B Shelley, Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Marxist, Guy Maddin, My Winnipeg, horror movies, MCU movies, Netflix series, TV shows, critic reviews, audience reviews, box office performance, budget, producer, director, writer, MPAA rating
Worldwide gross: $523,417
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $720,987
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,662
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 78,625
US/Canada gross: $32,677
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $45,011
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,762
US/Canada opening weekend: $5,595
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $7,707
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,754
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $688,731
Production budget ranking: 2,102
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $370,882
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$338,626
ROI to date (est.): -32%
ROI ranking: 1,571
Christopher Moll – Executive Producer
Lisa Marie Russo – Executive Producer
Roy Boulter – Producer
Sol Papadopoulos – Producer
Director(s)
Terence Davies
Writer(s)
Terence Davies
Producer(s)
Roy Boulter, Sol Papadopoulos
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
2 wins & 11 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (59) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (55) | Rotten (4)
The pain of [Davies’] latter-day distance from his home town comes through poignantly.
October 5, 2020
Richard Brody
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 3/5
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Terence Davies, England’s greatest living filmmaker, has released only six features, and this one is his first documentary, a mesmerizing and eloquent essay about his native Liverpool.
December 16, 2009
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
The film invites a reverie. It inspired thoughts of the transience of life.
June 18, 2009 | Rating: 3.5/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
Davies has carried out the duty of expansive memoirs. Instead of high-tailing it away from the rigors of reminiscence, he pushes headlong through them.
March 27, 2009 | Rating: 3.5/4
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
TOP CRITIC
Davies is a master of melancholy self-reflection. This film sheds light on where his feature films came from, as much as the city he lost.
March 13, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
This is a poetic version, but genuinely felt and elegantly expressed.
February 13, 2021
David Walsh
World Socialist Web Site
A pompous, ostentatious mishmash of artful lyricism and egotistical self-aggrandizement.
July 7, 2019 | Rating: 2/4
Mattie Lucas
From the Front Row
If I seem overly harsh towards a film that I’m essentially recommending, it’s only because I expect more from the director.
September 29, 2015 | Rating: 3/5
Derek Smith
Tiny Mix Tapes
A visual poem.
March 26, 2011 | Rating: A-
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
… a wistful, funny, satirical, angry and forgiving portrait.
May 12, 2009
Sean Axmaker
Parallax View
Like a long, bickering marriage or a favorite pair of well worn out shoes, UK combo filmmaker and nostalgia buff Davies can’t seem to resolve his unsettling but addictive love/hate thing with the city that informed his imagination for better or worse.
April 21, 2009
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze…
Plot
Of Time and the City is a documentary/biography film directed by Terence Davies, which uses newsreel and documentary footage to recall his life growing up in Liverpool, England in the 1950s and 1960s.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels doesn’t provide any goofy or funny comments about the film “Of Time and the City.”
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