Liam (2001)

Synopsis: In the 1930s, Britain was between wars and on the verge of depression. Family homes were rented, pubs were smoke-filled dens and streetlights were minimal. For seven year old, Liam (Anthony Burrows), growing up against the bleak and gritty backdrop of the Irish Catholic quarter of... In the 1930s, Britain was between wars and on the verge of depression. Family homes were rented, pubs were smoke-filled dens and streetlights were minimal. For seven year old, Liam (Anthony Burrows), growing up against the bleak and gritty backdrop of the Irish Catholic quarter of Liverpool, along with his older brother and sister, is a daily struggle.

While Liam is at school being terrorized by the Catholic priest and school teacher his brother (David Hart) is working at the shipyards to help support the family while Teresa (Megan Burns), his sister, is sent to clean for a wealthy Jewish family and finds herself an unwilling participant in her employer’s adulterous affair.

Despite the hardships of the times, the family attempts to provide a light in the darkness. Liam's mother (Claire Hackett) is caring and devout, fighting to hold her family together. His father (Ian Hart) is a responsible working man, proud to be employed when so many others are not. But hard times have hit the Liverpool Docks and once Liam's father loses his job, the family is sent into intractable poverty. Helpless, embittered and determined to find someone to blame, he joins the local Fascist Party with tragic consequences.

LIAM is a poignant portrait of a family’s free-fall into poverty seen through the eyes of an innocent child, personifying the dream of a brighter future.

LIAM is directed by Stephen Frears. The film is produced by Colin McKeown and MartinTempia; executive produced by David M. Thompson, Tessa Ross and Sally Hibbin; and co-produced by Ulrich Felsberg. The script is written by Jimmy McGovern. Lions Gate Films will release LIAM on September 14th. It has a running time of 90 minutes and is not yet rated. --© 2001 Lions Gate Films [More]