Small Faces

If you see this in the TV listings, local videoshop, wherever, Get It! You will not find a more accurate movie that conveys the state of Glaswegian upbringing as it was and still is today. The violence, the course language and the way the young 'gangs' live and breathe on machismo and fights. The film shows an artist boy who is somewhat out of place in the world he finds himself living in. With his rather maniacal brother Bobby who just loves to go and fight the 'TONGS'. There is a younger brother in this family who becomes more of a central character as the film progresses. I don't want to give the story away so I will just say, if you want a true drama with no frills, fluff or effects, violence shown as it is, brutal and frightening (although I dont mean to put you off as it is highly watchable and not TOO brutal) -the utter desperation that some people live in and not only when this film is set in but today too. I know, I have lived in a similiar world. Nothing has really changed. If you want to find out just what this is like..GET THIS MOVIE! If you are from Glasgow or most places in central scotland - GET THIS MOVIE! Thats all :)

(Just GET THIS MOVIE..)

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.

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.

Life in the tough end of Glasgow in the late 1960s is delightfully and sometimes painfully presented here. This is clearly a work of well-observed autobiography by the Mackinnon family - Billy the writer/producer and Gillies the director.

At the centre of the film is the Maclean family - widowed mother with sons Bobby (none too bright), Alan (budding artist in spite of being brought up in the tough end of Govan) and narrator Lex, only 13 and still not sure what life is all about. Iain Robertson's performance as Lex is so good that it is barely credible that he has not reappeared in anything more worthy of his acting talent.

The film sets up a series of oppositions - gangs (Glens versus Tongs); romantic family life vs tough and unromantic street life; loyalty vs betrayal. Far from resulting in simplification, this actually makes the life of young Lex even more complex as he is, sequentially, drawn to each aspect of these opposing ideas.

Director Gillies shows he knows how to film his environment and gives us telling and memorable images - such as a huge close-up of blood running down a plug-hole that looks like some work of abstract art.

Nowhere near as clichéd as most coming-of-age movies, this is a joy for teenagers and adults alike.

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.