His choice of films displays a fascination for and admiration of human beings, particularly when the odds are stacked against them, and he favours true stories.
Detailed Summary:.
This is just the story basically Ab ;0).
The film opens in Brooklyn, New York 1935, where Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt and their four children are celebrating the birth of their fifth child, and first girl, Margaret-Mary. Three days later, though, joy turns to despair as the baby dies. Angela is grief stricken, her husband turns once more to drink, and the children, the eldest of whom is six, have to fend for themselves. After a visit from some relatives they are given the money to return to Limerick on the west coast of Ireland, as prospects in New York are bleak (it is the middle of the Depression).
However things are no better in Limerick - the incessant rain and resulting damp making it even more miserable. They move into one room, and before too long the two youngest children, twins, have both died. Between the deaths the family is seen praying to a picture of Jesus with the sacred heart. .
The father, Malachy, tries to find work, but prejudice works against him. He hails from Ulster, and is a Protestant - doors everywhere close to him. His wife's relatives are equally hostile to his background, and in despair he becomes increasingly reliant on alcohol, seeking solace in the stupor it provides.
The family moves from the room to a terraced house next to the river, although hovel is a more apt description. The downstairs area is constantly flooded, so they live in the two rooms upstairs. They call the downstairs Ireland and upstairs Italy. The one toilet for the whole street is located outside their back door.
The level of poverty is remarkable; that some of them survived it more so. Often there is no food at all to eat. The father's alcoholism worsens. His parents send five pounds when a new baby is born to buy clothes and baby things.