The Terence Davies Trilogy

The Terence Davies Trilogy

3 Episodes

In three short films made over the course of seven years, Terence Davies traces the childhood, life, and death of his alter ego, a closeted gay man named Robert Tucker. In CHILDREN, Robert reflects on his youth, remembering the bullying he experienced in his rigid Catholic school and the death of his abusive father; in MADONNA AND CHILD, the adult Robert works an unsatisfying office job, seeking out sexual encounters while being tormented by Catholic guilt and caring for his mother; and in DEATH AND TRANSFIGURATION, the elderly Robert looks back on the death of his mother while facing his own mortality. Suffused with the longing and loneliness of queer outsiderhood, these striking films display the impressionistic visual style and piercing emotional sensitivity that would make Davies one of the great cinematic poets of our time.

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The Terence Davies Trilogy
  • Children

    Episode 1

    Directed by Terence Davies • 1976 • United Kingdom
    Starring Phillip Mawdsley, Robin Hooper, Nick Stringer

    In the first film of Terence Davies’s autobiographical trilogy of shorts, his alter ego Robert Tucker reflects on his youth, remembering the bullying he experienced in his rigid Catholic sch...

  • Madonna and Child

    Episode 2

    Directed by Terence Davies • 1980 • United Kingdom
    Starring Terry O’Sullivan, Sheila Raynor, Paul Barber

    In the second film of Terence Davies’s autobiographical trilogy of shorts, his alter ego Robert Tucker works an unsatisfying office job, seeking out sexual encounters while being tormented by...

  • Death and Transfiguration

    Episode 3

    Directed by Terence Davies • 1983 • United Kingdom
    Starring Wilfrid Brambell, Terry O’Sullivan, Iain Munro

    In the third film of Terence Davies’s autobiographical trilogy of shorts, his alter ego Robert Tucker looks back on the death of his mother while facing his own mortality. Suffused with the...