Programme
Benediction
Benediction
2021 United Kingdom, United States 137 min N-16
Added to my films
Siegfried Sassoon survived the horrors of fighting in the First World War, was decorated for bravery, but became a vocal critic of the government’s continuation of the war. His poetry was inspired by his experiences on the Western Front and he became one of the leading war poets of the era. Terence Davies’ biopic tells a story of a troubled man, broken by the war, coming to terms with his homosexuality, and at the same time trying to find salvation within the conformity of marriage and religion.
“Renowned auteur Terence Davies breathes new life in the historical chamber-drama by delivering an emotionally-charged and contemporary-relevant biopic of Siegfried Sassoon. Full of charm and wit, his biography cuts through half a century of British history, haughty repartees and the puritanism of its cloistered high-society to expose the conflicted, corrupted morals of Church and State. A muted masterpiece and a cinematic requiem for history’s broken-spirits of queer and national identity, Benediction bears witness to Sassoon’s tragic life with the petrifying resonance of Munch’s “The Scream”.” (Andrei Tănăsescu)
World Premiere: Toronto Film Festival, 2021 Awards: Best Screenplay, San Sebastian Film Festival, 2021
“Renowned auteur Terence Davies breathes new life in the historical chamber-drama by delivering an emotionally-charged and contemporary-relevant biopic of Siegfried Sassoon. Full of charm and wit, his biography cuts through half a century of British history, haughty repartees and the puritanism of its cloistered high-society to expose the conflicted, corrupted morals of Church and State. A muted masterpiece and a cinematic requiem for history’s broken-spirits of queer and national identity, Benediction bears witness to Sassoon’s tragic life with the petrifying resonance of Munch’s “The Scream”.” (Andrei Tănăsescu)
World Premiere: Toronto Film Festival, 2021 Awards: Best Screenplay, San Sebastian Film Festival, 2021
Director's biography
Terence Davies (b. 1945, Liverpool) worked in bookkeeping before gaining amateur acting experience. He then started studying in drama school and working on plays in radio and on stage. After adapting one play into a short movie, he started studying film and later began his directing career with a trilogy of autobiographical shorts (Children in 1976, Madonna and Child in 1980 and Death and Transfiguration in 1983). His debut feature Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) was widely awarded by critics and won Golden Leopard in Locarno. He made 8 films since then, including Sunset Song (2015) screened at "Kino Pavasaris", and is considered one of the most important British film directors.
Director(s) - Terence Davies
Screenwriter(s) - Terence Davies
Actors - Peter Capaldi, Kate Phillips, Jeremy Irvine, Jack Lowden, Matthew Tennyson
Producer(s) - Michael Elliott
Cinematographer - Nicola Daley
Editor(s) - Alex Mackie
Sound -
Composer(s) -
Sales agent - Bankside Films
Distributor -
Production company -
Translation - Laimonas Vaičius
Dialogues - English
Subtitles - Lithuanian
Director's biography
Terence Davies (b. 1945, Liverpool) worked in bookkeeping before gaining amateur acting experience. He then started studying in drama school and working on plays in radio and on stage. After adapting one play into a short movie, he started studying film and later began his directing career with a trilogy of autobiographical shorts (Children in 1976, Madonna and Child in 1980 and Death and Transfiguration in 1983). His debut feature Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) was widely awarded by critics and won Golden Leopard in Locarno. He made 8 films since then, including Sunset Song (2015) screened at "Kino Pavasaris", and is considered one of the most important British film directors.
