Little Criminals

I watched this movie years ago on channel four and it is still stuck in my brain. I'd love to see it again to see if it is as good as my memory tells me, I had it on tape and accidentally taped over it - I was gutted! I loved this film because it didn't shy away from it's theme and the actors were brilliant, especially Des. I loved the way that children were actually treated as interesting and detailed characters rather than sickly sweet cherubs. And lets not forget the kick ass soundtrack, it really helped to create the intense atmosphere. I remember being shocked, enthralled, disgusted, sad, excited, amazed, fascinated... This film had all the right ingredients to make it stand out in my mind both when I first watched it and still now.

One evening, late Autumn 96 I sat back and causally channel surfed, I ended up on channel 4 (UK) where I was about to witness one of the best films of all time.

From our first introduction to Des, perfectly framed through the windshield shadowed by the angry tones for Violet I knew that this film was going to be something different from the usual TV movies.

The concept of someone hitting the downward spiral is oft covered by small and big budget alike, but to convey it from the eyes of a child, however dangerous on the outside, a sensitive messed up inner beauty is portrayed, a victim of his surroundings without the adult understanding to make sense of it all. Suddenly you realise that this kid who seems to be popular, connected and tough is far from it and is merely fitting the mould society has carved for him and when the pillars of his self, the shreds of normality that his world clings to are torn away he realises that the voices were right, he is alone, he is not special, and his time has run out.

We have see a roller coaster of emotions, with him reverting from adult to child but in the final scene, as the flames lick around him, distorting his treasured drawings, burning his forgotten sanctuary: we realise that there could be no other ending for him, or for the film - the trip hop pining of Portishead Roads that has haunted us throughout the film, reaches crescendo to add the final brevity.

The raw quality of this film and the depth of message is usually out of reach in a TV movie, but not his gem.

Watch it, remember it.

'Little Criminals' has to be one of the most depressing films I've ever seen; more so when I consider that, in reality, there must be thousands of children out there condemned to lives of crime and misery as a result of their home situations.

The film revolves primarily around two eleven-year-olds boys named Cory and Des whose extra-curricular activities involve robbery, violence, vandalism, smoking and drugs. On the whole, Cory is a decent child who is just acts out because he feels displaced his step-father and half-siblings. He is sucked into the world of juvenile crime in the hopes of feeling 'cool' but realises the full ramifications of his actions when things go too far and, luckily, he has a family to protect him. Des is another story. It would be too easy to hate him from the onset because he behaves like a vile little monster but only through watching the film do we see a different side to him. He's a neglected, miserable child who has never had one happy moment in his short life. And, deep down, there is a part of him that is still very childlike and desperate for someone to reach out and redeem him. He's a boy who could have lead a well-adjusted, productive life had he been raised by loving parents who actually cared about, guided and disciplined their son.

The quality of the child actors was just excellent. Myles Ferguson, who tragically died just five years after appearing in this film, was able to portray Cory's descent into crime in a way that makes the audience identify how easily a child can be led astray. But it is Brendan Fletcher who steals the show. He depicts Des' hard edge and dark emotions while retaining a sense of vulnerability and childish desperation in the character. He leaves you feeling a conflict between condemning Des as irredeemable and wanting to help this child climb to a better future.

There is no happy ending in this film but it does leave you pondering many thoughts long after the credits have gone by. Perhaps if Canada had a lower age of criminal responsibility, Des and his friends could have been arrested earlier and given the therapy they needed. While I do believe some child criminals deserve to be locked up for a good few decades because they have gone just too far for justice to take second place to rehabilitation (the two ten-year-old British boys who tortured, abused and murdered two-year-old James Bulger fall into this category), reflecting on Des' situation leaves me realising that juvenile detention is not the best solution for all children who commit crimes. Some can be saved if intervention is given early enough.

It's just sad that even in the twenty-first century many of those children who can be save fall still through the cracks of and go on to meet the fate of becoming adult criminals or, worse, premature death.

I've tried to get hold of this film for some time now, but it seems impossible. A shame really..anyway: I would like to comment on this film simply because I have the opportunity to tell the world how I felt during the credits: Great !!! If you think that KIDS is a really good movie, try to get hold of this one, it's even better !! --P.S. I particularly like the drawings in the closet, they're excellent....

This movie came out a while ago, and I'm pretty sure it was made by the CBC. I only saw pieces of it then, but the images stuck in my memory for years until I saw it again on Showcase.

Really gritty movie that I'm glad has received an audience outside of just Canada. The kid's performance is mesmerizing and I enjoyed how a sympathetic angle was available, but not pushed. The ending to me was sad, despite how terrible the boy was, and is one of the images that sticks in my mind the most.

Anyone who feels that the younger generation is going to ruin the future, don't watch this film!! Like the "Thirteen," or "Kids," it's disturbing to watch people so young result to such drastic measures in life to feel accepted.