‘Benediction’ Director Terence Davies Explains Why Most Linear Biopics Are ‘Incredibly Dull’

Terence Davies’ lyrical, gorgeous and elegant film “Benediction” is an unusual biopic about British war poet Siegfried Sassoon in that it jumps around in time and finds Sassoon as both a young and old man. Scholars may be left hunting for the film’s specific timeline, but the film no doubt packs an emotional wallop. In speaking with TheWrap, Davies said that was certainly an intentional choice, and that when many linear narrative films are done poorly, they’re “incredibly dull” to watch. “In any film, I’m interested in not literally what happened next. What’s more important is what happens emotionally next,” Davies told TheWrap at the Toronto International Film Festival. “From the first three shots in the film you can tell how it’s going to end. That’s just not interesting.”