Customer Reviews

Liam

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After critically praised "High Fidelity," director Stephen Frears came back to his homeground with "Liam," which traces a family living in Liverpool during the time of the 1930s, immediately after the Great Depression.

Though, with justification, some people pointed out the resemblamce between this one and "Angela's Ashes," you must know that "Liam" is set in Liverpool, England while the other in Ireland. So it is very suitable that "Liam" cast Ian Hart as Dad of the family because Liverpool-born actor once played a very credible portrait of John Lennon. But you may now remember him as Prof. Quirrell in "Harry Potter." Whichever you are, he totally remodelled himself, to become this father of 7-year-old Liam, whose stuttering sometimes works for his advantage in this hard times of Depression.

The film follows the life of Liam's family members, each of which strrugles to live under conditions of life that gradually get harder. Liam goes to a Catholic school where he is taught about the hell and its fire; his elder sister Teresa starts a job of a housemaid in a rich Jewish family, where she inspite of herself helps to conceal the mother's affair from her husband; and Liam's father, who lost his job at factory, resorts to entering the membership of radical political party.

It seems at first sight that the film is dark, grim, and somber to put off many of you, but it shouldn't. The fact is, thanks to the fast-paced editing of the film, and very sly humors of Jimmy McGovern (of controvertial "Priest"), which include ones with sexual nature -- little Liam had to witness his mother's naked body accidentally, and thinks he has committed a sin --the film is always watchable. You may call it a light-weight work from Frears (running time is about 90 minutes), but it has good acting all around, convincing production designs, and most of all Anthony Borrow's adorable Liam, which itself is worth your money. He has no previous acting experience, but you won't believe it after seeing his face.

Also good is Ian Hart, as always he is. But his final act as Dad, which is very drastic and melodramatic, looks out of tune, and certainly many of you might feel disappointed (and I was too). But I know a Japanese reviewer who pointed out that final conclusion shows an irony -- while Liam himself is terribly afraid of being burnt in hell, it is not he that receives that fate. Is the ending a right one? Please judge it for yourself.

Very gripping drama about a family in Liverpool, "Liam" tells you a thing or two about living there at that time, and influece of religion on the children. You may wonder why Teresa had to say "I'm sorry" while it is Dad that should say so. It is thus always engaing, and thought-provoking. If you didn't like "Angela's Ashes" (which I liked), you may go for it.

Great 30's feel of hardships, survival and hopes- all seen through the eyes of a truly innocent, little boy. The movie had the unique ability to make the viewer feel apart of the era/movie. Oh and how one feels for Liam who is cursed with a stutter at the most unfortunate moments. The Catholic religion is portrayed rather accurately for the times and one can really feel the oppression on the little souls of the school children; let alone of the struggling adults. The father takes a dissaterous spiral and the mum is just trying to hold everyone together and still be a God loving Catholic.
I believe the movie could have been as good as Life is Beautiful, Billy Elliot and Il Postino if only it had been an hour longer- I would have sat that long to have the supporting characters and the story developed more. The accents are a bit trying at times but not as hard to understand as Billy Elliot. I would pay to see this again, after all who can resist Liam reciting "Seven and a ton a, Seven and a ton a... my mum says seven and a ton a". Running time aprox 1.5 hours.

The violence that ends this small but strong film pulls together all the narratives that have come before, leaving you limp. The act is inevitable, the irony of it unexpected. The victim is innocence itself. Everything seems to lead to this shattering moment, one for which we are not prepared. The quiet coda before the credits, when the victim actually apologizes, does not let us off the hook. You are going to hate how you feel.

A hardscrabble family in Liverpool before WWII is burdened further when the father loses his job and self esteem, blames the Irish and the Jews, and becomes an anti-Semetic lout. We watch his descent through two of his children, a teenage girl and her seven-year-old brother, Liam, a stuttering lad who is also being sucked into the supernatural rites and educational wrongs of Roman Catholicism back when the Church was blindly obeyed.

Catholics are not going to like this movie much. It leaves them no wiggle room. Without being explicit or mean-spirited, and years before sexual scandal and Vatican politics wrecked their havoc, director Stephen Frears has made Catholicism the villain. It is clear from the start, especially in the schoolroom scenes, that the source of all misery is the superstition and institutional myth emanating from the pulpit and the confessional.

This is a time when depression families turned to the Church for solace, only to have it unknowingly withheld. No wonder this unhappy family turns dysfunctional, its members set against themselves and their neighbors. All the actors are remarkably natural, the direction and cinematography unobtrusive, and the script honest almost to a fault. Little Liam is unlikely to grow up unharmed by his family and his faith. It hurts even to think about him.

This little known and acknowledged film is a touching and thought provoking work. A true gem.

It is a story of a catholic seven year old boy going by the name Liam in 1930's Liverpool. It is a view into the life and times of the financially and humanely poor conditions of that age. Liam and his family suffer much in this film and we watch, being drawn in to understand and enjoy the characters and their lives.

For those who concern themselves with moral content for children:
This film is rated R, containing some nudity (though it is tasteful) and some small amounts of adult language. The subject matter and the story is obviously not all rosey and smiles either. There is some violence in this film that forces notice.

1930's Liverpool during the Depression was not a great place to be. True, the war would change all that, but for the Sullivans, an Irish Catholic family it's a time of cruel hardship, especially when one gets unemployed. Imagine the dread that fills one's guts when the fellow at the head of the line opens his pay packet, only to find a slip of paper. He then tells the guy behind him that the factory's closed, with the news filtering down the line. Well, that's what happens to Pa Sullivan.

Fortunately, the oldest son, Con, finds work, as does Teresa, but for the most part, the father's loss of self-respect at not being able to provide for his family creates tension between he and the rest of the family. He's too proud to bribe the gaffer (foreman) with a drink at the pub, so that he is one of the few allowed to work. But when he does, the gaffer passes him over, which further destroys his pride. And there seems some resentment over the fact that his children can find work, but not he.

Liam, the youngest, has to undergo the twin Catholic rituals of first confession and first communion. Like the rest of his peers, he is given the fire and brimstone version of hell. The instructor, Ms. Abernathy, tells them how their souls are filthy and only with their first confession will they be pure enough to receive first communion, otherwise it's sacrilege. And the priest tells them to imagine the hottest fire one's ever seen, because hell is worse than that.

Liam is also affected with a pronounced stutter resulting in an intense hissing "s," as if the words are trying to escape his mouth but are trapped. At times, he repeats what his mother tells him when sent to the pawnbroker, with instructions of "seven and a tenner." However, when he is asked the price, his mouth betrays him. He's a nice and sweet kid, very quiet, but also puzzled. He catches sight of his mother stepping out of the bath, then sees the Vermeer nudes, which are bare all over. Why the difference? The conclusion he draws, well, one can't blame him for his lack of knowledge, but it turns out to be amusing.

The religious and class tensions of 1930's Liverpool are fully at play here. During a New Year's party, two women, one Catholic, one Protestant, get into a singing, then fighting match that leads to both of them leaving the party. Another is Teresa, the daughter and middle child, a girl just entering her teens, who takes on a housekeeping job for the Samuels, a Jewish family. Ms. Samuels is a kindly lady and bribes the young girl for keeping quiet about her male lover. However, to take on the job, Teresa says she's not Catholic.

Catholics really had it hard given the sacraments they honour. Indeed, Pa Sullivan rages at how "Jesus Christ has made us skint," meaning how they get broke spending money needed for more basic necessities on the suits, ties, and frocks to be worn on special occasions to make young boys and girls good and presentable Catholics. That leads to his blaming the pawnbrokers, who are Jewish, for profiting on the poverty-stricken Catholics, a wry irony considering the Jews' perceived stigma as Christ-killers on the part of Christians. But maybe Liam's stutter and naivete regarding the paintings reveal the repressive nature of Catholicism, and how one can't learn or think due to religious bias, which in turn leads to class conflict.

I learned in history that anti-Semitism has a latent/manifest dynamic. During economically troubling times or times of catastrophes, like the Black Death, the Jews were blamed. Small wonder then that the father becomes a willing follower of Sir Oswald Moseley's BUF, the British Union of Fascists, and makes the Jews the scapegoats for his troubles.

Ian Hart (Pa) who played Professor Quirrel in Harry Potter, gives a lot of depth of a man who loses his self-respect during a time of troubles, and is desperate to prove that it's not his fault. But the other players are well-cast, especially Anthony Burrows as Liam and Megan Burns as Teresa.

Teresa (Megan Burns) and her brother Liam (Anthony Burrows)are growing up in England as the depression is hitting its full stride. Their father is out of work and looking for people to blame, their mother is riddled with critical diatribes towards her children, and both the children are looking for answers.

Young Liam turns awkwardly towards the Catholic orthodoxy while Teresa begins working for a prosperous Jewish family. Their father, meanwhile, turns toward the local fascist thugs for answers. Through it all, we: the viewers, can see it coming as we whisper, "Here it comes. Won't be long now until all things converge and someone is left getting...."

Liam offers a glimpse into what happens when parents let their emotions dictate their decisions and all but offer their children up as the second-hand victims of those choices. I enjoyed this film but the subject matter is certainly not for everyone, especially the end that is anything but uplifting. Well-acted, especially by the two main principle actors in Burns and Burrows.

Eight-year old Liam and his Catholic family live in grimy, industrial Liverpool during the Depression. Liam's Dad loses his job, and each member of the family searches for answers in different places and ways. Their lives become enfolded in bigotry, violence, and social and personal conflicts. Liam, who is being prepared for his First Communion, looks to Catholicism for answers.
This is a Serious Movie. It's dark, and it takes some discipline to stay with it. It has a few good insights but raises many more questions.
A critic on the Internet says "Liam" is more raw than "Life is Beautiful" and more genuine than "Billy Elliot."

Gut-clutching. Frears is so universal when he starts getting down into the spasms of our entirely repressed freedom. Here the repression comes from the catholic church and the catholic faith that is transformed into a pilory of flames, hells sins, blazes, punishments, retaliations, guilts, and so many other vexations and humiliations that you remain like Liam, speechless and wordless in front of the denied basic human need for communication. The little Jesus of this fundamentalistic catholic vision of the world has got your tongue. But then you have the creeping or at times pouncing unemployment that bosses create by closing their factories for no reason whatsoever, no reason explained or given to the fired workers, those who get the flames of unemployment, the sack of the dole in which they are huddled to be drowned in the next canal, and the blinders of humble annihilation that makes them pay a pint of lager to their prospective day-employer if they want him to choose them on the folllowing morning. This builds up in the consciousness of the workers and little by little the time-old survival instinct tells them there must be one person responsible somewhere, a scapegoat that can be eliminated, and the Jews become the natural preys of this survival of the most alienated: the pawnbroker's shop first, the rich employer of the daughter second, etc. And here Frears becomes a genius by linking all the strings together: the priest tells the girl, in confession mind you, to get away from this Jewish family that makes her sin, the father has become a member of the fascist commando that is going to strike this Jewish home exactly when the girl is inside telling them she won't be working for them any more, Liam's speechlessness that prevents him from telling his father about his sister's presence in the house and the Molotov cocktail that ignites the daughter and/or sister and practically nothing else. There the film reaches the level of a visitation to the real hell these people are living in, their mental submissive and subservient alienation, when the incendiary father has to come and visit his daughter out of the hospital and she apologizes for having been there at the wrong moment. An angel crosses the screen. The Holy Spirit might exist after all: in Liam's eyes when watching this absurd world created by a father, THE father, God of course. Amen.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Paris Dauphine & University of Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne

This movie is absolutely terrible. Luckily I borrowed it from the library and didn't waste any cash on it. If I could give this flic zero stars, I would.

Anti-Catholic bigotry is rife in this nightmarish illusion of a Catholic family. There are many contrived, totally unrealistic scenes that shamelessly promote hateful emotions towards the Catholic church. There is, of course, an overbearing, evil Catholic priest who actually goes house to house to collect alms for the parish. LOL! This, in my mind, was so unusually hateful on the part of the film makers as to be unforgiveable. Whoever thought that one up needs serious psychiatric help.

There is the fanatical school teacher who appears devious in teaching the children about sin and hell. She even uses the parish priest as a kind of tag team partner to confirm her in her zeal and to add some extra doom and gloom to the catechism instruction.

In probably the film's most ridiculous scene, the Catholic father, angry, depressed, and stymied by financial problems after losing his job at the local mill, hysterically disrupts the packed Sunday Mass where his son's class is receiving first holy communion, and berates the priest for having to have spent his last shilling on a white shirt, black pants and tie (the traditional first holy communion outfit) for his son's special occasion.

Good grief, the film makers will twist anything and everything in order to bash the Church. They even stoop to the below-the-belt ploy of portraying all the adults as Jew haters.

My honest opinion is that everyone involved with creating this movie, except perhaps the little boy who played Liam, should be imprisoned for a hate crime.

The cover of this DVD carries film critic Roger Ebert's praises: "A WONDERFUL FILM ... BRILLIANT PERFORMANCES!"

As former Wimbledon player John McEnroe once infamously complained, "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"

This DVD should be withdrawn. It is a shame that it is allowed to be purchased and seen by unsuspecting people.

I really liked the way the film was directed, with alot of visual imagery revolving around four major themes, poverty, religion, SES and politics. The themes were all interelated and were played on throughout the whole movie. The cast was outstanding and you've got to see the darling little boy who had a speech impediment. He is probably one of the cutest child actors I have seen! He is outstanding!! The ending might be hard for some and is quite shocking, but it makes sense. I really think those of you who saw Angela's Ashes and wanted a bit more, would get that from this film. It just covers the content more richly and with gritty yet beautiful cinematography.

Lisa Nary