Liam [2001] DVD

Liam [2001] - Aye, it's tough oop north--again. In Liam, screenwriter Jimmy McGovern takes us into well-mined territory: working-class Liverpool during the Depression years o (...) See more See less

f the early 1930s, and into the bosom of a poor but proud Catholic family. But then Tom, the father, loses his job at the local dockyards; teenage daughter Teresa, working for the rich Samuels family who own the yard, finds herself unhappily used as a go-between in Mrs Samuels' extra-marital affair; and seven-year-old Liam is being scared witless by hellfire sermons from his priest and his schoolteacher. Things get worse when the embittered Tom, deciding the Jews are to blame for his workless state, joins the Mosleyite fascists. No startling revelations here, then--but the film is fuelled by McGovern's affection for his characters and his passionate anger at their plight. Stephen Frears' vivid and atmospheric direction makes the world of cramped grey terraced houses real and tangible, and skilfully builds the tension toward the final inevitable outburst of violence. And from his cast he draws performances of rare urgency. As Teresa, Megan Burns touchingly conveys the confusion of a young woman torn by conflicting loyalties and witness to emotions she can't quite grasp. But the film is held by Ian Hart as Tom, with his raw vulnerable face and indignant ears, crushing down his own gentler instincts as he's drawn towards fascism. As he marches down the street in his black shirt his twitchy strut--half guilty and half defiant--says it all. --Philip Kemp (Description excerpted from: Amazon)