Paul Greenwood reviews

• Cert:
• Running time: 106 minutes
• Year: 2002
• Released: 4th October, 2002
• Widescreen Ratio: 1.85:1
• Rating: 9/10

Director:

Ken Loach (My Name is Joe, Kes, Land and Freedom)

Cast:

Liam: Martin Compston
Pinball: William Ruane
Chantelle: Annmarie Fulton
Suzanne: Michelle Abercromby
Jean: Michelle Coulter
Stan: Gary McCormack
Rab: Tommy McKee
Sidekick: Gary Maitland
Nightime: Junior Walker

Inevitability hangs in the air like a bad smell all through Sweet Sixteen.

That doesn't mean it's predictable though, just that for the characters presented, there is no escaping their circumstances. Or their fates.

Fifteen year old Liam lives in the formerly thriving ship building town of Greenock in the west of Scotland. His mother is in prison and his step-father is an abusive drug dealer whom he despises. Kicked out of the house for not passing drugs to his mother, Liam goes to live with his sister and her young son, wanting nothing more than to have his mother out so they can be a family.

His dream is to get enough money together to buy a caravan for them all to live in and, to fund it, he turns to selling drugs that he stole from his step-father. This brings him to the attention of the local drug kingpin who recognises that Liam is clever and resourceful and could make him money. Liam is soon drawn farther into the criminal activities that he initially seemed smart enough to be able to escape. Loyalties will be tested and relationships will be strained to snapping point before events take their fateful course.

Sweet Sixteen is a breathtaking, heartbreaking vision of deprivation and desperation. The film has caused something of a stir in the Greenock area with politicians complaining that it shows the town in a bad light, as though the film makers were implying that crime and drugs were endemic to Greenock. This is a story that could have been told in just about any town in Britain, or indeed the world. It's very much to the credit of everyone involved that we are one hundred percent on Liam's side throughout, and that we never perceive him as simply a drug dealing criminal. Most of the praise has to go to newcomer Martin Compston, who gives an astonishing performance, as good as anything seen on any cinema screen in the last two years. He brings everything it is possible to bring to the role: insolence, rage, humour, anguish, longing, fear, bitterness, tenderness, love, hate.

Praise too, to writer Laverty and director Ken Loach for filling such a brutal world with so much compassion. I've always preferred the naturalism of Loach to the contrived and over written style of Mike Leigh, and this approach reaps great rewards here with both the performances and writing flowing effortlessly until we might not be watching actors at all. This means that the dialogue is necessarily harsh and unforgiving, and no concessions are made to tailor it for a mass audience.

I understand subtitles will be provided outwith Scotland - this is probably a good idea as some of the dialogue would likely prove impenetrable to non-Scots. I work in the town where Sweet Sixteen was filmed and set, and there were occasions when I had to concentrate one hundred percent on what was being said in order to pick it up. This is no reason whatsoever to miss Sweet Sixteen though. It is, by some distance, the best film I've seen this year.

Review copyright © Paul Greenwood, 2002.