Lyddie is a very quiet little movie that tells the story of the struggles a family has to undergo in order to keep their farm. In particular Lyddie, she feels it's her right to work for the farm and she tries a couple things before settling on factory work. She make friends with some characters and in general this woman is a saint. She makes a lot of sacrifices for her family and eventually finds her path on the way to a proper education. Lyddie is a sweet, sometimes very sad little film. I did enjoy the film quite a bit.
Add a Review
-
Peach-27 September 1999
-
rockmt15 July 2007This is a fair adaptation of Katherine Patterson's masterpiece children's novel but definitely not as good. The fact that it changes locations from Lowell, Massachusetts to Cornwall, Ontario does not do the book very much justice because it leaves out important historical intentions such as the significance of mill towns in 19th century New England and the Underground Railroad (which leaves the scene with Lyddie and the runaway slave as awkward because the slave has already arrived in Canada in the movie).
The killing off of Diana Goss in the movie (which does NOT happen in the book) was also an unnecessary change to the original storyline. In the book, Diana gets pregnant by a married man and had to hightail out of Lowell before the mill owners find out and thus damage the reputation of her reformist following. After being fired from the mill, Lyddie heads to Boston to try seeking employment from her but has no luck as Diana is living with another family and has no need of help. It is this episode combined with a few others not mentioned in the movie that leads Lyddie to a sense of abandonment and then one of self-reliance.
Overall, this is not a bad movie but the book is much more powerful. Perhaps the BBC should have done a longer miniseries on the book and put it in "Masterpiece Theatre" instead. -
jwlinkin11 February 2007A nice family film about a trials and hardships of a working girl in 19th century America. The film has an array of characters that Lyddie interacts with. It is an enjoyable, relaxing movie that has a purpose -- showing how a young woman was able to successfully meet the challenges of life through hard work and goals.
The movie is wrapped around Lyddie's decisions based upon her strong beliefs about doing what is right -- what is right for her, her family and the young women she works with.
Moral issues that the move tackles: 1. Slavery, 2. Factory working conditions, 3. Sexual harassment -
unix-tom24 October 2001Lyddie is one of my favorite books for quite a while now, so when I found the film on video I decided to get it.
It really recreates the mood and the theme of the book in my opinion, although as usual some details had to be omitted. Good acting, a beautiful landscape and "on theme" music really add to it.
If your are looking for a good family movie which everyone in the family will enjoy, this is one for you. -
mopecakes17 November 2012I watched this movie for Tanya Allen and in the awkward first scene I was pretty sure that was all it would be for. Therefore the rest of the movie was much better than I expected, and I find that a day or two after watching I have a sense of having watched an honest piece of life that is unusual. There's no particularly satisfying conflict or major resolution and I think it ended up better for it - I don't know of another movie I can compare this experience to. I'm simply left with a feeling of fondness.
Anyone with the patience for a non-action movie might be surprised, and it's certainly worth watching if you like charming faces like Tanya's. -
dwlf29 January 2017This is awful. It depicts all men as worthless (every male character except Lyddie's brother is awful),
it depicts all Christians as bad (a deacon at the church tries to rape her, and her friend, who is a Christian, transports slaves, among other bad depictions),
and overall, the story is just boring.
Lyddie is a selfish brat that only thinks of herself.
One of her roommates is a depicted as a prick, just because she wants people to follow the rules.
There are some good messages, like encouraging independence, but overall, this had terrible messages.
Overall, this was a 1/10. -
General_G1 November 2005Now I'm not really into olden time movies. I am also very picky about dramas. This movie wasn't the kind of drama I was looking for. I don't like movies that take place long ago before the twentieth century. I would however recommend this movie if you like olden time dramas. The book was very boring. I just read it and it just dragged along. Nothing much to it. As usual though they changed a lot of stuff in the movie which I hate. I confuses me and I'm used to the way the book was and it throws me off. I don't understand why they just can't keep it the same. There were some pretty good actors and actresses in the movie. This movie would be good if you like plays because it reminded me of one.