Liverpool – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews

Liverpool, the 2008 Argentinean film from noted minimalistic director Lisandro Alonso, is not an easy film to watch. It’s not entertaining. It’s not clever. There’s nary an explosion or love triangle. The movie is an exercise in tedium and might just be the Bizarro World version of a Michael Bay film. Yet, somewhere between the five-minute silent scenes of a man packing a suitcase and the long, steady shot of an empty room, there’s something undeniably haunting about this sparse film. That said, even the film’s haunting presence isn’t the cool kind of haunting where the walls bleed and furniture spontaneously stacks itself. Liverpool‘s idea of haunting is for the audience to wake up the day after watching the movie, stretch their arms and say, “Gee, that was a weird, unpleasant movie.”

Liverpool features a cast of non-actors. Leading the group is Juan Fernández as Farrel, a merchant sailor who returns home to his sleepy snow-covered village after abandoning his elderly mother and daughter for a life of sea-bound loneliness.

Loneliness is the overwhelming theme of the film and the movie decides to bake the experience into its very structure. Consisting of well under 100 shots, the movie is made up of long, steely scenes that let the action, however mundane, play out in its near-entirety. Whether it’s Farrel eating a meal alone or sleeping on a bus, the camera keeps its gaze consistently trained on the lack of action occurring on screen.

It’s hard to even justify those long, tedious shots as being worth it because of the actors’ ability to emote without dialogue. The actors are either so emotionally subdued it looks like you’re watching a movie filmed with carved blocks of wood or the camera stays far enough away from the action where audiences can barely decipher what is playing out over the actors’ faces.

These long scenes devoid of action (or sometimes even actors) masterfully represent the loneness felt by Farrel. Watching the often-silent scenes play out one after the other certainly gives an accurate experience of what it’s like to feel detached from everybody else. I’m just left wondering if that is an experience worth having by audiences. It takes nearly an hour before Farrel even reaches his home and audiences are given some kind of clue as to what the plot’s purpose is. The joke, though, is that the plot has no purpose — the movie’s purpose is to contain a definite lack of plot, story and characters.

The film features some beautiful cinematography — which is a godsend because otherwise the movie might just be as exciting as an 80-minute staring contest. As it is, though, watching the movie is an event comparable to watching a slide show of pictures in a silent, dark room. A flicker of action plays across the screen every now to grab the audiences’ attention and but most viewers will instead find their thoughts turning inwards.

What groceries do I need to buy this afternoon? Did I forget to flush the toilet? Who am I as a person?

As the thoughts become existential, the movie reaches its goal.

Liverpool is loosely about Farrel exploring his connections (or lack thereof) to his family but in reality the movie is designed to make audiences explore their own connections. As to drive home the point, Farrel, the movie’s main character, decides to actually leave the film almost 20 minutes before the end.

Liverpool isn’t a movie about its characters. It’s a movie about its audience. Watch with trepidation least you discover something about yourself you don’t like.

The film is presented in an anamorphic 1.85.1 transfer. Like a grainy photograph, the movie looks beautiful is subdued. Look for the excellent usage of colors and tones to help carry through the movie’s themes on a visual level.

The movie is presented in 5.1 Surround Sound in Spanish with optional English subtitles. Minimalistic in sound as well as story, the soundtrack makes good use of background ambiance noises channeled through the various speakers. Enjoy the rocking music that plays over the film’s opening credits. That’s the most excitement you’ll get all movie.

Stills gallery — A collection of photographs from the film’s production only drive home how much the movie played out like a slideshow.

A print interview with director Lisandro Alonso — Included in the DVD’s linear notes is a two page interview with the filmmaker that shines a bit of light into his motivations and the film’s origin.

Liverpool is not a movie I can recommend. Slow in pace and meticulous in construction, the film is more an experience than movie and life is full of enough experiences as mundane and draining as Liverpool where it becomes questionable whether or not the movie is necessary. If you’re a fan of art house films, extreme loneliness or the Argentinian countryside, by all means watch Liverpool. If none of this sounds extremely appealing, just stick with network television.


Kino International presents Liverpool.  Directed by: Lisandro Alonso. Starring: Juan Fernandez, Giselle Irrazabal and Nieves Cabbera. Written by: Lisandro Alonso and Salvador Roselli. Running time: 85 minutes. Rating: N/A. Released on DVD: November 30, 2010.

Robert Saucedo is an avid movie watcher with seriously poor sleeping habits. The Mikey from Life cereal of film fans, Robert will watch just about anything — good, bad or ugly. He has written about film for newspapers, radio and online for the last 10 years. This has taken a toll on his sanity — of that you can be sure. Follow him on Twitter at @robsaucedo2500.