Bermuda International Film Festival 2009

Terence Davies's symphonic cinematic poem was one of the surprise hits at Cannes last year and has gone on to charm audiences around the world ever since. Davies made the film on a minuscule budget (£250,000), using archive footage, some shots of contemporary Liverpool, his own inimitable voice-over (at times viciously critical) and a great deal of music. Made to celebrate Liverpool's year as Cultural Capital of Europe, the film is a personal reflection on, a paean of praise to and a lament for the city where Davies was born. Homosexuality, class society, Protestants versus Catholics, post-war aftermath: they are all examined. An extraordinarily powerful, almost magical, combination of sound and image in a way not seen on the British screen since the films of Humphrey Jennings, the film's ostensible focus is Liverpool. But its true subject - and the reason why it has won over those with no direct knowledge of Merseyside (or, indeed, postwar Britain) - is that overwelming sense of loss which lies at the heart of the human condition.