Tuesday 19 October 2010

"A Diary for Timothy" & "A Prayer Before Birth"

A Diary for Timothy
a documentary film directed by Humphrey Jennings, produced by Basil Wright, with a commentary scripted by E. M. Forster, and spoken by Michael Redgrave.

A Prayer Before Birth
a poem (partially animated) written and read by Louis MacNeice (or, if you prefer, just the text).

Two representative works relating to the year 1944. People born at the end of World War II might reflect on the challenging question posed at the end of the film:


Are you going to make the world a different place, you and the other babies?”

From Jennings' Notes for the film:


"All this is the world which he inherits: whose people- whether they know it or not- are working for him- helpless as he lies in the cot....Tim will have his individual place in the world, as they have. What is it to be?"

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