The Fifteen Streets (1989)

So much average

Powerful

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Such a WONDERFUL production. Very moving and atmospheric, authentic. When the haunting music came on at the end i remembered the stories and characters that we'd seen in the show. It reminded me that there were people who were like the o Brians in real life northern England and,like the people in real life, the characters have all been and gone too. The acting was great, even the smaller roles were great. This was made in 1989 and it was well made. I don't think they'd make such a brilliant job nowadays. It would be less tastefully made and more politically correct. Oh and the wonderful Claire Holman was amazing in every way

This is a magnificent piece of work. It's human. It's happy. It's sad. It's tragic. It's an improbable love story set in the grim world of the Newcastle England docks around the turn of the twentieth century. I'm not familiar with the author of the book. But I recognize dedicated, creative film work. We have plenty of that here! This is a film made by people who love making movies. It shows in every frame. The characters are strong and they're real. The grim atmosphere of the brick and concrete tenement district has been caught accurately, both its human and inhuman dimensions. Yet there are many warm and charming scenes among those that are bleak or tragic. The subdued colour, the rain and the snow at times, probably are more effective than black and white would have been. I would have given it a 10 save for two things. The ending is a little silly. And, surprising in a film which is is so historically accurate, one of the shots at the dock shows a modern overhead crane. But it's a keeper and one of those stimulating films that trigger interesting discussions and arguments.

A very violent film in thought word and deed - indeed it starts with a brawl between the O'Brien brothers - and set in extremely austere and miserable surroundings. Add a continuously grey sky, damp wet streets and generally sordid surroundings and you are fast on the way to a recipe for instant suicide ! In spite of all this violence, poverty and austerity, there remains one glimmer of hope - the nascent love between one of the O'Brien brothers and the schoolmistress daughter of a local wealthy shipbuilder who is married to Billie Whitelaw - whose face has always scared the pants off me since I saw her in "Omen I". The misery is further compounded by a boating accident in which the cute little sister loses her life together with the grand-daughter of a new preacher neighbour and the person responsible for the accident is deemed to be the other O'Brien brother portrayed by the actor Sean Bean ( who also sports a mean countenance at the best of times ). So basically, in this whole awful quagmire, the only slender straw that the desperate spectator can clutch on is that which relays the love between our two turtle doves ! The film is extremely well acted but I was obliged to turn my head the other way during some of the violent scenes - it's as bad as that. If you enjoy this sort of stuff, you will have a field day, if not you watch this film at your own risk and peril !

A superbly balanced cast portray a story of love and loss in northern England. Excellent period piece that conveys the atmosphere of a rugged pre-war industrial town. Passions run high as love tries to cross the class divide. Performance which particularly stands out is that of a young Jane Horrocks.