written and directed by Terence Davies. 125 minutes
The great Emily Dickinson published in her lifetime fewer than a dozen poems. She died unknown, unmarried, unfulfilled. Terence Davies is celebrated for his early autobiographical films, growing up gay and celibate in mid-20th century working-class Merseyside. This may seem a long way from respectable, prosperous, mid-19th century Massachusetts, but Davies’s theme – life denied and unlived – would be familiar to many. A Quiet Passion makes of the life of a recluse, a hymn of praise and sorrow for the socially excluded.
