Ravishing, tremulous and deeply felt, Sunset Song is the latest film from British screenwriter, novelist and director Terence Davies (Of Time and the City, The Deep Blue Sea).
Adapted by Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s classic novel, it’s set in coastal Aberdeenshire on the eve of World War I. Former supermodel Agyness Deyn (Electricity) gives an excellent performance as Chris Guthrie, the teenage daughter in a farming family ruled by an oppressive, violent father (Peter Mullan); and when tragedy strikes, she finds a curious liberty in the dissolution of their dysfunctionally tight-knit family.
Beautifully, dreamily filmed by cinematographer Michael McDonagh, it has plenty of Davies’ usual nostalgia and impressionistic grace, but also depicts the grim realities of life and nature in this historical rural world with clarity; making this a uniquely powerful picture that’s already garnering strong festival press after its Toronto screenings.
