The film is the ruthless portrait of a family living in a shabby Liverpool apartment in the 1950's. Memories of hard times are brought back to life — times, however, when people still believed in change. Much has happened since then, but the hope for a better life has not been realized. Terence Davies' "Distant Voices, Still Lives" reveals the invisible bonds that hold families together. He made the movie as a way of coming to terms with his own family. The film is autobiographical and the events depicted are authentic.