BENEDICTION

Synopsis

BENEDICTION explores the turbulent life of First World War poet, Siegfried Sassoon, through the eyes of the revered filmmaker Terence Davies.Sassoon was a complex man who survived the horrors of fighting in the First World War and was decorated for his bravery but who became a vocal critic of the government’s continuation of the war when he returned from service. His poetry was inspired by his experiences on the Western Front and he became one of the leading war poets of the era.Adored by members of the aristocracy as well as stars of London’s literary and stage world, he embarked on affairswith several men as he attempted to come to terms with his homosexuality. At the same time, broken by the horror of war, he made his life’s journey a quest for salvation, trying to find it within the conformity of marriage and religion. His story is one of a troubled man in a fractured world searching for peace and self acceptance, something which speaks as meaningfully to the modern world as it did then.

Biography

Davies was born in Liverpool in 1945, the youngest child in a large working-class family. After working for ten years as a clerk and a bookkeeper, he entered Coventry School of Drama in 1971 and the National Film School in the 80s. During this time, he made The Terence Davies Trilogy, which put him on the cinematic map as one of the most original British film-makers of the late 20th century.

FILMOGRAPHY:
2021 - BENEDICTION, Feature
2016 - A QUIET PASSION, Feature
2015 - SUNSET SONG, Feature
2011 - THE DEEP BLUE SEA, Feature
2008 - OF TIME AND THE CITY, Documentary
2000 - THE HOUSE OF MIRTH, Feature
1995 - THE NEON BIBLE, Feature
1992 - THE LONG DAY CLOSES, Feature
1988 - DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES, Feature
1983 - STILL LIVES: THE TERENCE DAVIES TRILOGY, Feature