Vidas enfrentadas

I nearly passed this movie up as the film guide had written a poor review (do they even watch the films?). In the end I watched the start intending to go to bed and ended up watching the whole film.

What interested me most was the picture the film gave of life in Glasgow during the 60's. The landscape of the film is one of endless factory's, warehouses and derelict buildings. All of which seem to look back to the past. The streets of Govanhill where the Glyn live are cobbled and winding narrow passages. Later in the film we are shown 'tong land'. Three massive tower blocks seemingly standing in the middle of a waste land. At the road leading in some graffiti reads 'you are now entering tong land'. The bleak concrete land in which they live is very striking and seems to belong more to the 70's than Govanhill which seems to belong back in the 1800's.

The film itself is good and I doubt anyone would be disappointed were they to watch it.

A gritty, realistically drawn out rights of passage film, this was an impressive return to form for writer/director MacKinnon after his brief Hollywood fling. Overall the film, although essentially a nostalgic look at a young Glasgow boy coming of age in 1968, manages to steer clear from over romanticising the past as so often happens with such an exercise. This is largely due to an impressive cast, realistic location filming, and a refreshingly simple (especially in light of recent Brit flicks) down to earth pop soundtrack. Its not too preoccupied with presenting a hip representation of 1960s culture which may have prevailed its realism.

Lex is the youngest of three brothers MacLean being brought up by a single mother in a grubby tenement flat. His brothers are greatly contrasting in character; Alan a sensitive, aspiring artist, and Bobby an illiterate and unpredictable gang member. It is the former that Lex looks up to rather than Bobby who he sees as a "moron". Much of the film's central concerns seem to lie in these two contrasting sides of Lex's up-bringing. He lives in a world where artistic expression, or any such kind of creativity, is stifled. This being graphically represented by the beating of a young artist at the hands of a local gang. We also learn of this character's father's fruitless attempts to produce grapes in the middle of Glasgow. The only escapism and means of capturing anything remotely extrisnic for the likes of Lex and Alan is through their art. Ultimately though it is intelligence which prevails when Malky's ignorant act leads directly to his destruction.

Early scenes serve to establish the family life of the MacLean's. Sometimes these seem rather idealistic, such as family gatherings and sing-songs. The singing seems to be a motif for happier times; it doesn't return until directly after Malky's death in a comical children's sing-a-long at a Saturday matinee. Although family life is not disregarded, never can adults successfully communicate with the youngsters. The attempts by an American uncle to have some influence over the boys is ineffectual, and the mother seems to have little control over them. Also there curiously seems to be no intervention by the police into the gang violence.

As Lex is the central protagonist we are often given his perspective of events. An earlier gang encounter at a fairground is received from his point of view, which is then followed by a man leading an elephant across a field. Such surreal imagery is almost a childlike representation of events. Shaky camera movements during his drunken stupor are further indication of the camera allowing us to identify ourselves with him.

On the whole the film is well-crafted. Some striking images such as the track of red blood across the ice rink after Bobby's is stabbed and great attention to detail are a credit to the director. As well as some clever aesthetic touches the film boasts to its credit some endearing performances by what is mainly a young cast, especially young Ian Robertson as Lex whom our affection for is essential to our enjoyment of the film. Despite the film's violent content we rarely lose sight of humour or hope.

Small Faces stands out as an unsentimental and unpatronising glimpse of the life of 1960s working class youth in Glasgow. The film is directed with a light touch and brilliantly conveys the experience of growing up in the slums with the stereotypical escape-routes of gangs, drink and education. In refusing to romanticise its subject matter the film is bleak, funny, brutal and life-affirming all at the same time.

SMALL FACES is a Scottish film set in Glasgow during the late 1960s and follows the lives of three brothers from the Maclean family : Bobby a member of the Glen Gang , Alan who has ambitions of going to art school and Lex a thirteen year old boy and like the character of Taylor in PLATOON where the main character finds himself being split between the violent pragmatism of Barnes and the humanity of Elias young Lex is split between what brother makes the better role model

It's a complex tale that is character driven which explains why none of the comments on this page has really gone in to the plot details and if you're expecting a violent tale with youths slashing each other with razors every five minutes then you'll be disappointed . There is violence of course and some people may bleat that it lives up to the " Glesga keelie " stereotype but I disagree and it's interesting to note that the traditional battle lines of Glasgow gangs being drawn from their ethnic background ( Irish Catholic and Scottish Protestants ) is never discussed .

Despite having a small budget director Gillies MacKinnon makes the most of what he's got and watch the scenes where characters view Tongland ( Is it the notorious Gorbals ? ) which resembles a bleak alien city . The cast are uniformly excellent with veterans like Clare Higgins and Ian McElhinney appearing alongside up and coming Scottish actors like Kevin McKidd and Laura Fraser but the two best performances are by Iain Robertson as Lex and Garry Sweeney as gang leader Charlie Sloan which is just as well since most of the movie rests or falls on these two characters , though strangely neither young actor has gone on to have a sparkling career which is a pity

In late-1960s Glasgow, three teenage brothers from a fatherless home in a lower working class neighborhood struggle to survive among the chaos and violence that is part of their subculture. The oldest has serious mental problems and a learning disability associated with his acting out. The middle brother tries to steer clear of it all as he struggles to pursue his artistic talent. And the story is told from the viewpoint of Lex, the 13-year-old, whose childish delinquency becomes serious business when he is forced into adult situations. At the beginning I had difficulty with the heavy Scottish dialect and had some confusion of characters and events, but I was drawn in by the progression of events and the development of the characters. This is a poignant coming-of-age story that rewards us if we stay with it.