The Terence Davies retrospective arrives at the BFI with complete films, a free exhibition, a streaming collection and a rediscovered short, giving audiences several elegant ways to discover that cinema can be beautiful, devastating and best approached with a biscuit.
The season runs at BFI Southbank from 20 October to 30 November, placing love, sex, religion and death in the same cultural itinerary and trusting silence to handle the introductions. It is a brave amount of human experience to schedule before lunch.
The free exhibition follows from 1 to 30 November, while a subscription collection arrives on BFI Player from 6 October. The archive has been distributed across cinema, gallery and sofa, allowing visitors to experience a complete emotional journey without the institution having to admit that “please take a moment” is now part of the customer service offer.
The programme also includes Boogie, a recently discovered early short found among personal items donated from Davies’ estate to Edge Hill University. It receives its first screening since being found, which is a significant event for the film and a terrible precedent for every archive that has ever placed a cupboard under review.
“We want audiences to engage with the complete work,” said Clarissa, the Department of Cultural Recovery’s Curator of Emotional Logistics. “We recommend a programme, a quiet walk and one biscuit capable of remaining structurally sound during a revelation.”
Clarissa’s department has identified the cultural sector’s most promising growth area: packaging difficult feelings until they resemble a pleasant afternoon out.
The House of Mirth returns in a newly remastered version with a UK and Ireland theatrical release from 24 October. Its BFI Blu ray follows on 24 November, while BFI Player waits until the New Year, presumably because even streaming services recognise that some consequences need time to arrive by post.
By opening the archive so widely, the BFI has ensured that audiences can leave through whichever exit best suits them. The biscuit, meanwhile, has been asked to stay behind, absorb the complete films and explain the ending to the refreshments department.
Real story: British Film Institute.
