Principal cast: Ian Hart, Clare Hackett, Anne Reid, Megan Burns, David Hart.

Dir: Stephen Frears

SYNOPSIS

The cover credits and reviews infer that this is the view of life in 1930s Liverpool through a child’s eyes. I do not agree necessarily. Sure, the child, Liam, is a principal in the plot, but what we see are the trials and tribulations of a working class Irish Catholic family facing not only economic hardship, but also problems arising from their faith, class structure, political and racial views. Religious influence/oppression is particularly severe on Liam who is heading towards his first ‘confession’. Liam has a strong stammer that seems to be exacerbated amid the conflicts of what constitutes a sin, and the consequences of sinning.

We see a few examples where Liam, along with his sister, Teresa (Megan Burns) and their father (Ian Hart) face issues and react in quite different ways. Liam is fraught with guilt about sinning, Teresa denies her faith to gain employment and their father, unable to find work, resorts to extremism with dire consequences. Liam and Teresa are eventually seen to overcome, or cope with such problems, although Teresa is left contemplating her future at the close. Mum (Claire Hackett) is similarly in contemplation - for the family as a whole.

The roles of Liam, Dad and Teresa are much to the fore, whereas Mum and Liam’s elder brother, Con, are far less prominent. I question the reason for listing Aunt Aggie (Anne Reid) as a principal character. All roles are understated to an extent, in empathy to a plot that does not require histrionics.

Overall, this is a story of a family, the ‘coming of age’ of some of its members, and the breakdown of the family unit that can occur through unemployment.

VISION

Anamorphic 16:9 widescreen, the colour generally muted as befitting the setting and mood of the film. Contrast satisfactory with no problems in darker settings.

SOUND

Stereo: nothing to write home about, but it is NOT an action movie nor musical soundtrack, so It is certainly adequate in the circumstances. At the start, promos seen prior to the main menu have no audio track.

The big surprise is at the end of the film when you’ve settled fully into your chair to contemplate.. Out of the blue comes a Dolby Digital promo clip in 5.1 sound (a variation of the helicopter over tall buildings clip I know well, this time obviously over Sydney). It sure gave me one hell of a surprise. Of course if, like me, you avoid Pro Logic and switch the audio soundtrack to stereo, you will miss much of the effect.

EXTRAS

Apart from a six page 18-chapter scene selection menu, there are three extra menus:

Cast & Crew: A one-page list comprising the three actors listed above, director, writer and producer. On highlighting each person’s name one is given a 2 to 3 page list of film and TV credits. It is strange, however, that the so-called ’star’ of the movie, Liam (incidentally his name is Anthony Borrows - it took a bit to find out!) is not listed - nor is he mentioned on the DVD cover!

Production notes: Multiple pages of notes, mainly referring to the formation of the production team responsible for creating the project. Only later in the notes do we find out that the film is based on a book, and some details of locations (much of it was not filmed in Liverpool).

Synopsis: Copious pages of notes on the film’s content which, because of its length and direction, seemed to lose chronological integrity and delved into such depth that I wondered whether I was watching the same film. Thought provoking all the same, and it would have had a bearing on my synopsis if I’d let it.

OVERALL

Maybe it’s me, but contrary to the cover critiques and reviews, I could not find a great deal of humour in the film; but to me that was a bonus for a movie which was an honest attempt to depict life at the time. A darker, seamier side to life that many of us have not had to endure; it is a social/economic biopic put into a narrative package that could dismay or disturb, but is definitely watchable. Don’t misunderstand me, I enjoyed it.