2000 · drama · period · coming-of-age
Liam
Directed by Stephen Frears1h 30m2000
A morality tale of xenophobia, religious prejudice, mob violence, poverty, and their effect on two children in Liverpool during the Depression. When a shipyard closes, Liam and Teresa's dad loses his job. Liam, who's about 8, making his first Holy Communion, gets a regular dose of fire and brimstone at church. Teresa, about 13, has a job as a maid to the Jewish family that owns the closed shipyard. The lady of that house is having an affair, and Teresa becomes an accomplice. Liam stutters terribly, especially when troubled. Dad comes under the sway of the Fascists, who blame cheap Irish labor and Jewish owners. A Molotov cocktail brings things to a head.
Our read: Liam (2000) reads as a sombre, steady, grounded drama · period · coming-of-age entry — measured in intensity, intimate in scope, measured in temperature, nihilistic in outlook.
Sombre, steady, measured drama / period, grounded in texture. Nihilistic, intimate, measured.
- sombre
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Availability in the US · via JustWatch
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