Distant Voices Still Lives Film Analysis

Memory is deployed in Distant Voices, Still Lives and My Winnipeg to enable the exploration of film form and narrative style within the texts. Through an experimentation of form and narrative both directors rely on memory to link their personal stories to wider themes within their films. The themes of society, the individual, and the overarching theme of memory can then be approached in an alternative manner by the art cinema style and the more avant-garde depiction of personal and public history. Both films represent memory in similar ways but use it as a means of experimentation with the classical cinema style of representation.

Experiments with film form allow for an exploration of memory within both films that does not conform to classical

Unlike classical narratives which aim to achieve an invisible style these films use experimental techniques to draw attention to, rather than divert it away from, the art of filmmaking. Both films focus on memory as a means of expanding on their fragmentary narratives. It is necessary to reflect in segments of memory in order to understand the past as a whole. In Distant Voices, Still Lives the constructed ripple effect (Powrie 320) of the non-linear narrative allows for a deeper exploration of the past. Memories of family life are intertwined with memories of society and community which all fit into a circular narrative structure. Davies frames his film around significant life events but chooses to disrupt these milestones. In opposition to classical narratives, Distant Voices, Still Lives shows a disrupted version of the typical life stages of birth, marriage, and death. Family life is remembered out of order which lends to the idea of the ripple effect (Powrie 320) that becomes a theme in this film. Instead of beginning the narrative with a positive family experience, the first image of the family appears as they line up before the father’s funeral. The ending focuses on Tony’s wedding but as he cries in the doorway the sense of happiness drains from the scene. This confusion of seemingly positive events is also signalled in the final lines of song before the credits roll. As the family are walking home the song plays the line “I know not if I sink or swim”. These ambiguous lyrics combined with the disruption of family events shows the alternative way in which Davies experiments with classical narrative conventions. Memories can be triggered by anything and are an involuntary reaction caused by something around us. Davies uses his fragmented narrative to encapsulate issues of involuntary memory and to show