Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Sergeant_Tibbs Terence Davies followed his masterpiece debut Distant Voices, Still Lives with The Long Day Closes, a meditation on his adolescence. It follows a very similar style with a series of surreal but verite vignettes of 1950s life mixed with familiar songs. It's more polished than Distant Voices, often having some incredibly impressive camera moves, but with removing that grime comes its downfall. The film lacks vital drama. Even with Distant Voices' scattered scenes, there's conflict in every one of them. The suffering in The Long Day Closes seems internal or invisible and it's difficult for the film to communicate its intense feelings through the characters and atmosphere. While some delightful contrasts are made between home, school and cinema, the solace of the movies don't have their impact without a reason to need them. Perhaps the film should've steered far away from Distant Voices' style as it feels like a watered down version, revealing too much and saying too little. However, its intricate production and sensitive aesthetic make it a worthwhile if overly subdued viewing. I hope Davies' other films are more satisfying.7/10

irvthom1-1 It's kind of fascinating to me that so many reviewers consider this a masterpiece. I am not a dullard as far as quality films go, and I will agree that from a technical filming standpoint, as well as for several of the characters portrayed, the film is in an award-worthy class. But there is no sense (for me) of this film actually going anywhere; I mean, taking the viewer anywhere. It is a series of mood scenes, perhaps remarkable as such, but I want more from a film. I look for story and movement and a fulfillment of arrival, none of which did I find in this film. Yes, it might be considered poetry on film . . . but there is much poetry that I cannot live with for the same reason: that it paints pictures without going anywhere.One thing further to be said is that it documents a mid-century English childhood, which is necessarily limited in its universality. I was personally appalled at what a young British boy had to live through, in that time and place. Having grown up in America just a decade earlier, I can authoritatively say that the contrast is immense. I cannot help wondering if this contrast has had some effect on those reviewing the film so favorably. In other words, could there be a tendency to judge the film entirely on its 'filmic magic' (which I acknowledge is there) and completely ignore its lack of relevance to the nature of one's actual recalled experience?

pdxdennisj A stunning exercise in pure cinema. This is the third and final part of his autobiographical Childhood Trilogy. He uses very a very stylized presentation of snippets of memory (Proust-like) overlaid with snips of movie soundtracks and songs to evoke the emotional content of coming to terms with himself in a loving family (at last). If you have seen Visions of Light, this is what it was all about. There is not a wasted frame in this film. Beautifully conceived jump shots, sound over lays and an overhead tracking jump shot that is simply amazing. If you a looking for a plot line or "story telling" you will not find it here. If you are looking for amazingly true and honest cinema that is like moving frames of Vermeer, this is for you.

Rick Powell My one-line summary might seem to limit one's approach to Terence Davies' magnificent meditation; however, I stand by my assessment: this is the richest (visually and emotionally) and most rewarding cinematic rumination on awakening self-awareness that English-speakers currently have. Though highly personal, there's more here in a single sequence on the loneliness and isolation of realizing and growing into one's queerness, one's affinity with a particular bent of art and aesthetics than the entire oevre of Peter Greenaway. Like Jarman, but at once both more poetic and passionate, The Long Day Closes is non-linear, meant to be savored one aching moment at a time.