Sweet Sixteen

Ken Loach makes films of political power and emotional intensity. If he has a flaw as a film-maker, it is that the overall body of his work is insufficiently varied, and that the same basic narrative (of essentially decent people fighting and ultimately failing to overcome their disadvantages) re-appears in a different setting in each successive film. 'Sweet Sixteen' is, however, one of his better works, in part because he resists the temptation (as sometimes he does not) to place a hero with a heart of gold at it's centre. What we have instead is a horrifyingly believable story of an ordinary kid getting into bigger and bigger trouble. Every detail convinces, and the quality of performances Loach entices from his inexperienced cast is of the highest order: the film is also a sobering reminder of the underside of life in Blair's Britain. Loach has a rare talent: it's on display here, but don't expect any surprises.

Liam is a teenager surrounded by crime and poverty all around him. His step-father and grandfather having him smuggling drugs in to his mother's prison for her to sell on, while his activities with friend pinball can only politely be described as "anti-social". With his mother due to be released in only a few months, Liam is determined to get her a new start along with him, his sister and her young son. However his opportunities for getting money to set them up is limited and he steals drugs from his step-father's stash and tries to deal them off as quick as possible to make the money he needs.

At times watching a Ken Loach film is a bit like being having your face pushing down into something unpleasant for two hours; occasionally you get to come up and take a breath of fresh air but you are quickly pushed right back down again soon enough. So it is with Sweet Sixteen, which sets us down in a Scottish world of poverty and crime where "opportunity" is having a good supply and a good spot to sell, while being seen as having "potential" means that you can sell without using the stash yourself. Typically for those trapped within this sort of world, the goal is to get out of the situation but using the situation to do it but, unlike Jay Z, the story rarely sees the protagonists living to rich old lives married to the sexiest pop diva around.

In Liam's story his hope is not to become rich but just to get out of the area and hopefully get a normal life with his mother. The entrapping nature of his world is seen in the need to get in deeper in order to get out and so it goes. The gritty, depressing locations and the frequent, strong language are only cosmetic things that suggest the problem because really the grittiness is all in the characters and their situations. Laverty's script brings these out well without ever making it come over a preaching or hand-wringing, instead he just presents it for what it is, which is far from cheerful. It is depressing watching but yet quite compelling and convincing as it paints a world where "bettering oneself" is nothing more than liberal wishful thinking. Although tit isn't fair to criticise this story for being unrelentingly bleak, it is hard to watch it and, once seen, I cannot imagine why anyone would wish to rewatch it again even within the medium term.

The cast work well with the script though. Compston is convincingly ratty and very much the type of kid that most of us would avoid eye-contact with; however he manages to find the person in there early on, so that he can then do a good job of losing that same person as it goes on. Ruane has a simpler role but works OK it in, likewise Fulton, Abercromby and others all turn in natural performances. Credit to Loach again because he has drawn out convincing performances despite working with a mostly young cast.

There is no getting away from the fact that this is a depressing and bleak portrayal of life in poverty but, although not one you'll watch over and over again, it is an impressive and engaging film.

A typically excellent Ken Loach dramatic testament to the plight of the common man, "Sweet Sixteen" brings the forces of adversity and the futility of naive courage into bold relief with this hopeful examination of one boy's struggle to make a better life for himself and his loser mother. Don't look for a happy ending to this dreary, drab but compelling drama which could easily be labeled a "downer". Recommended only for realists into foreign films. (B+)

Note - This film does have English subtitles making it more user friendly for those who find the thick Scot dialect difficult to understand.

From the opening scenes to the closing credits it was wonderful the acting the storyline the direction were wonderful, if this dosent move you nothing will, young Liam and Chantelles scene in the flat was so powerfull,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,a fantastic must see film

Winning awards and nominations at Cannes, Sweet Sixteen continues director Ken Loach's devotion to social awareness. After using film that directly affected legislative reform (Cathy Come Home) in 1965, his work has spanned the globe and a wide variety of social ills and with very varying fortunes in marketability. Sweet Sixteen looks at adolescent delinquency and the difficulties faced by youths who try desperately to escape the downward spiral that ruins their lives forever. The script, in broad Scots dialect, has an urgency and reality to it. The young actors come mostly from the deprived areas of Western Scotland where the film is set, many of them first-timers and of an age where they would not legally be admitted to the film. The scriptwriter bitterly attacked the BBFC over its ‘18' certificate decision, which was based mostly on the aggressive use of strong language. Meanwhile, English distributors looked at the use of subtitles to help adults south of the border cope.

The story follows 15-year old Liam (played by 17-yr old football player Martin Compston) as a youth who is determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison. The drug-dealing boyfriend of his mother and his empty-headed companion ‘Pinball', do little to make his quest easier. He opts for ‘means to an end' – a simple enough mistake we feel for a young boy in his circumstances. The consequences, of course, are told with shocking realism. Will the film have the sort of impact that ‘Cathy Come Home' had on homeless laws, and mean more attention is given to real support for youths in disadvantaged areas, rather than simply throwing money at the unwinnable war against drug dealing? The long list of agencies thanked in the closing credits shows how the people in the know pin their hopes on Loach – one of Britain's finest and conscience-filled directors – and one of our most ignored.