Les orphelins de Liverpool

This film was truly amazing to watch and i would watch it again and again if i could. It is a story of true compassion and friendship and will always be remembered by me as a true great. It truly is wonderful the dialogue was brilliant the acting was brilliant. Marks out of ten i give this film a positive 10/10.

If you are reading this, you have truly stumbled across something out standing! let's just forget about all the Hollywood films you may have seen and get back to reality for an hour and a half! The majority of the acting in this mini series is just incredible,and we are talking about children here! Usually British child actors are dismal,but in this instance it is not to be. I watched this film in the presence of a huge guy who's idea of fun is to have a battle in a bar after drinking and watching football,this film brought him to his knees. Christine Tremarco and the rest of the cast need a medal for this!

This film is a one off,you will not see anything like this again if you live to be 200 years old. This is the story of young children who have been shipped off to Australia believing their parents no longer wanted them,which wasn't the case here. The children were lead to believe they were being taken in for postures greener,how wrong could they be?

Be warned, this film is brutal and some may be sick to their stomach, but you have to watch it,it will give you an insight on life itself! Plus remember,this really happened it's not fiction,which with that in mind makes it more hard hitting!

I have seen this film twice, but both times are at least 6 years ago (I was 15 at the time). I remember the film as being very touching and one of the few films that have made me cry. Since I can't rent it here anywhere and it hasn't been on telly for a while, I wonder if I would still experience the film the same way. I think I would, because from just the fact that children were being shipped to the other end of world is shocking enough (and knowing such things have actually happened), the sexual abuse and punishments are not even necessary to make the film confronting.

Since it had subtitles here in the Netherlands, I haven't had any problems with the heavy accent that other posters talked about. But now that I have lived in England myself, I would like to see it again and see if I could understand it. I'm afraid I'll have to wait till it's on television again.

'The Leaving of Liverpool' brings into the open one of the UK's greatest shames of how young children, orphans or those who had the misfortune to hail from lower class homes, were snatched from all that they knew and loved to be transported to far-flung countries such as Australia, Canada and South Africa. This was not a government-sanctioned crime of the Victorian era but happened between the late Forties right up until the relatively recent Sixties.

This BBC TV drama follows the plight of twelve-year-old sweethearts Bert and Lily and their young friends as they are wrenched from their native Liverpool and transported to lead harsh new lives in Australia, a country so hot and unfamiliar to children who had never been outside their own city before let alone travelled to a foreign country.

The film highlights not only the abusive treatment the children endure but how the long boat journey itself was treacherous. It also shows how many of these children were lied to with officials telling them their very much alive-and-well parents were dead. The excellent quality of the child actors involve allows the audience to feel an emotional connection to them and empathise with the cruelties they suffer from those who were meant to care for them.

The only quibble I have is why this excellent drama is neither available to own on DVD nor aired more on TV as it's a shame that more people are not aware of it. It's also sad these now grown children's plight hasn't been publicised more.

This gripping, moving and sometimes disturbing portrayal is so powerful that it will leave you deep in contemplation but at the same time hand you a sizeable chunk of cheery satisfaction, for this drama boasts a finely executed array of acting talents that make this lengthy time piece perfectly believable. A UK drama that Britons can be truly proud of.

PJW