Films by season & age - Liverpool, City of Culture (Ages 15-18)

Seasons are a great way to explore different ideas through watching a group of films. Why not try watching all the films in a season and make some time for discussion. Topics and discussion points are included.

You might think that any city which had already contributed so much to the world of music via the legacy of The Beatles, and which had such a proud record as a home of football too might not have had much energy spare for movies. But as part of the artistic environment that has seen Liverpool named as the European Capital of Culture 2008, there’s a long and illustrious role as the setting of a range of superb movies – one that we here at FilmClub thought called for a celebration. And so we’ve collected together a group of tales set on the Mersey that might at first seem impossibly diverse - movies about against-the-odds love affairs in the bleak 1980s, movies about growing up in the bomb-scarred Liverpool of the 1940s, and movies about businessmen wandering the city at night in search of dinner. Much like the place that helped create them, they’re a unique bunch with a streak of independence and a pride in their own identity – and we’re sure that whether you’re from Liverpool yourself or just want to get to know the city better, you’re going to relish what you find here.

SUGGESTED PAIR

A Hard Day’s Night shows The Beatles at the height of their phenomenal success in the 1960s – while Distant Voice, Still Lives gives us a portrait of a working-class young boy growing up in the Liverpool of the late 1940s and early 1950s, just as the band’s four members did. Although very different in tone, The Revenger’s Tragedy and Three Businessmen were both directed by Alex Cox – a Liverpool-based film-maker who has worked in Hollywood in the past, but returned to his home city and now makes great movies there.