Rent Of Time and the City (2008)

Big disappointment - Of Time and the City review by SK

I suspect the buzz around this poor film probably has more to do with relief that great British auteur Terence Davies has finally managed to make another film, rather than its merits. The archive footage is certainly fascinating, but otherwise Davies merely repeats things he has done much better before (e.g. in The Long Day Closes) such as using Mahler and Doris Day over brooding still life images of working class lives. Such new material as there is (maybe 10 minutes in all) is dull travelogue stuff and with the exception of the striking opening image there is nothing to remind us of Davies' past brilliance with tracking and process shots. The worst aspect, however, is the grumpy old man's rant that is Davies' commentary, juxtaposing charmless bile against the Catholic church and the royal family, for instance, with scraps torn from TS Eliot, without eloquence, irony, or insight. Humphrey Jennings it is not, and I do hope TD hasn't blown the possibility of his long-cherished "Sunset Song" project with this substandard and self-indulgent piece of work.