Davies uses archival footage to chronicle life in post-war England, particularly Liverpool, his hometown. It's fascinating to see how much everyday life has changed in just the last fifty years.
Life in the middle of the 20th century was far more rooted in the past than anything we experience today. I think the global chaos and upheaval that was WWII set the stage for an explosion of technical progress over the subsequent half-century. But I'll save that topic for another post.
Davies covers significant events of the time such as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, England's participation in the Korean War, the decline of the Liverpool shipyards and the rise of large-scale institutional housing blocks. He also devotes quite a bit of time to the quiet dignity of ordinary folks doing ordinary things.
Surprisingly enough, it turns out that a documentary focused on 20th century Liverpool can get away with barely mentioning the Beatles. Davies was never interested in pop music, preferring classical instead.
Politics intrudes here and there as the storyline has an autobiographical element and Davies talks a bit about life in mid-century England as a lapsed gay Catholic. Suffice it to say he has no use for the Queen or the church.
Davies accompanies the film footage with his own narration and primarily a classical music score (with an occasional appropriate pop song thrown in). His tone is lyrical throughout and he sometimes recites poetry by well-known authors. Even though I didn't understand most of the local references to people and places, it wasn't difficult to follow along.
Overall I enjoyed the movie, and would recommend it to anybody with an interest in English life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&redirs=0&search=Of+Time+and+the+City&fulltext=Search&ns0=1
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