Sweet Sixteen
Tags: realism

Plot synopsis:
In a few weeks, Scottish teenager Liam will turn 16. The film opens with him using his tripod-mounted telescope outdoors on a clear night to show other children the stars and planets. He and his friends exemplify the violent "ned" subculture; they no longer attend school, but instead, hang around isolated areas or wander about all day long. They get money by illicitly selling untaxed cigarettes in a pub, and defy the police. Liam's mother is currently in prison, for a crime she did not commit. She will be released in a few weeks, in time for her son's 16th birthday. She has a boyfriend named Stan, who works as a drug dealer with Liam's grandfather, Rab.
Stan and Rab take Liam in Rab's car on a visit to his mother in Cornton Vale Prison, and try to force him to smuggle drugs to his mother while they create a distraction. In the event, Liam refuses to cooperate by passing the drugs over. When driving home his companions beat him up; he fights back and gets away. Liam arrives back to find that he has been expelled from his grandfather's flat, and his belongings thrown down into the front garden (including his telescope, which has been broken). Liam then moves to his sister Chantelle's nearby home in Port Glasgow. Chantelle agrees to let Liam live in her house if he's good to Chantelle's little son, Calum. She has been taking free evening classes to get work in a call centre, and implores Liam to do the same because she wants Liam to do something more 'constructive' with his own life.
When Liam takes Calum for a walk along Greenock Esplanade, his friend Pinball arrives in a stolen car and insists on taking them joyriding along the coast. They drive up through the Cloch caravan (trailer) park where Liam sees a caravan for sale in a spot overlooking the scenic Firth of Clyde. Liam, who loves his mother very much, fantasizes that he, his sister, and his mother can escape to the seaside and live in the caravan, away from Stan and Rab's wrath. To purchase it he and Pinball steal a delivery of drugs from Stan's house and sell them, doing the very things Liam once hated – claiming that they will never get anywhere by selling cheap cigarettes. They soon develop 'entrepreneur skills' and raise several thousand pounds, which they pay as a deposit towards the caravan in Liam's mother's name.
Liam's efforts attract the attention of the local drug 'godfather'. Liam, who only wanted a peaceful life with his mother, agrees to work with them after the local godfather tells him to 'stay away from our shops'. Pinball, meanwhile, is thrown into the health club showers due to his disrespectful manner towards the dealer, and vows revenge. Liam and Pinball carry on selling drugs to the local area, with the help of Liam's other friends who deliver pizzas. Liam and Pinball meet again with members of the drug godfather's gang, and Liam joins them in their car. Pinball is kicked out, angering him further; the gang members advise Liam to 'dump' Pinball for good. They take Liam to a Glasgow nightclub and instruct him that he has to kill someone to join the gang. Liam attempts to do so, but is stopped by the gang, who inform him it was a test (which he has passed).
Liam, Chantelle, Calum and Suzanne (Chantelle's friend) drive to the caravan to have a picnic, only to discover that it has been burned down. Liam believes it was Stan who did it, and throws a rock through his window. That evening, Pinball turns up in the drug godfather's (stolen) car, telling Liam that he wants revenge. He proceeds to crash the car into the health club. Liam speaks to the godfather in the morning and, to his chagrin, is ordered to "take care of" the Pinball problem (i.e. to kill his friend). The next morning, Pinball - aware of Liam's intentions - first tries to stab Liam, then proudly tells him that he's the one who burnt down the caravan, not Stan. He then cuts his own face in rage. Liam is seen reassuring his injured friend after phoning for an ambulance, but in the next scene he notifies the godfather that the deed has "been done", leaving a viewer to infer that he has indeed murdered his friend.
The godfather promises to buy Liam an upscale apartment, and on the day before his birthday Liam's mother is released from the prison and taken to this new house on the coast of Gourock where she is welcomed with a party. She appears uneasy, and the next morning is found to have escaped to Stan's house. Liam blames this on Chantelle. Chantelle, now fully aware that Liam is dealing drugs, attempts to warn her little brother about their mother probably not being so thankful for Liam's efforts because she is too devoted to Stan, but this only provokes Liam even further. An enraged Liam goes to Stan's house, trying to convince his mother to go back to their new home, only to receive insults from Stan. In a struggle, Liam stabs Stan.
Liam is then seen walking alone on the stony beach. He is phoned by Chantelle, who reminds him that the day is his 16th birthday. She also tells him that the police have been looking for him, but that after everything that he has done, Chantelle still loves him. He walks towards the sea.

Review: Somescenes are very unnerving and hard to watch simply because thehazing and degradation that the fifteen-year-old characters endureis at the hands of people who behave like insecure playgroundbullies, but are members of a powerful organized crime force.Even though I'm pretty close to the age of the main character, I canbarely imagine what the nightmarish experiences he enduresmust be like.The movie is emotionally devastating nearly all the way though.
I felt like I had been punched after I watched this film - it is one of the most powerful movies I have seen in a long time.This is Ken Loach at his very best, with a wonderful script from Paul Laverty.
There is also hope of a sort - the central character Liam has an older sister who cares about him deeply and is always there for him.The acting is stellar, it is shot with finesse and all in all is a masterful piece of film making.
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.
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?
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.
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.
As powerful and moving as the best of Ken Loach's recent films (eg Raining Stones, My Name is Joe), this features an outstanding cast of mainly first-time actors.
This film was a close study film for my AS Film Studies examination, and I have honestly fell in love with it.It sends a striking message towards how the 'not so better off' side of society have to live and perform their day to day routine.Ken Loach is a director who's purpose is to point out these 'bad points' of life and show them in a different light so that everybody can relate and understand that dramatic lifestyle.Martin Compston is amazing as Liam, showing humour, pain, humiliation and above all commitment to his chosen path.I agree completely with Ken Loach's and Paul Laverty's disgust at the film being certified as an 18.
Another excellent tale of gritty Glasgow from Ken Loach, well told from the eyes of a 16 year old boy trying to get another chance for his imprisoned and heroin addicted mother.The boy, Liam, makes one wrong choice after another although you can hardly blame him.
The director portrays in a lacerating way these sad lives, ineluctably taking to violence and crime; obviously, his political point of view is fixed and definite, but the way he presents the plights of unlucky people is memorable, as he shows situations full of anger, heart and frustration; tout ensemble, I would say it's another piece of genuine screen realism, with skillful and fine acting..
The characters in Loach's films are so real they're someone you can relate to, that's what I like about KL's films, obviously they are not for everyone, but give me Raining Stones, or Sweet Sixteen over'Triple xXx' anytime, there is enough action, and personal adventure for my liking.The thing with Loach's work, a first time viewer may read the synopsis and would think "what's that all about?" A poor,young and desperate boy tries to raise the cash to buy his mother, who is in prison a caravan, in order to get her a better quality of life when she gets out, and get her away from her bad influences.
Okay, so you hate your mom's drug dealing boyfriend for being responsible for sending your mom to prison, so as she nears her release date, you start dealing drugs yourself so you can buy a place for you to live with your mom, which is okay because YOU're clean and don't carry a knife.Meanwhile, none of your family asks you where your money comes from.But it turns out that your mom's a c* as well, so you stab her boyfriend and boy, now are you in trouble.I'm sure I'll figure out what I got from this, someday.
The film is very sad but enjoyable and the acting by martin compston (who plays liam) is very believable, i would definitely recommend this film.It can be a little confusing at times but it is not predictable like most other films.
I have to say i have visited Scotland and it does give the scots a bad reputation as there aren't many well spoken or nice characters in the film and also a lot of swearing whereas Scotland is not like that!!!!If you are easily moved you will cry so be prepared as its quite tough to watch from pretty much the beginning A must see movie :).
i don't think anyone could have played Liam as well as Martin Compston did WEll Done Martin especially as he wasn't an actor and was only 15 he is and inspiration to all young Scottish people who want to become an actor and i really respect him for it, keep bringing films out MARTIN!!.
A teenager from the wrong side of the tracks tries to build a new lifeStarring Martin Compston and William Ruane Screenplay by Paul Laverty Directed by Ken LoachThis is a gritty drama with plenty of colourful language from the get go.It's not a fun movie, it's not exactly a laugh a minute.
In fact, in their tracksuit and trainers garb, they still roam the streets today, usually in a zombie-like, drug-hazed trance.The central character of the film, young Liam and his best-mate Pinball obviously don't go to school and out on the streets, work the margins, both small-time partners, roaming the local pubs selling cigarettes on the fly.
Liam's mum is in prison, presumably on drugs-related charges and is due for release soon, but she's in tow with a hardened, petty criminal boy-friend who Liam hates, while also in the family mix is Liam's older sister, a single parent with a young child, who doesn't get on with their mum and bizarrely, a grandfather who's into the same petty crime as the mother's boyfriend.
A chance discovery of the boyfriend's drug-stash gives the soon-to-be-sixteen year-old a golden chance to make big money quickly and buy a dream caravan for the family to make a literally clean start but instead leads him into a shady underworld of crime and violence.Everyone lets Liam down in the film, eventually himself too and at the end, we see him in the time-honoured teenage mixed-up confusion traceable all the way back to Mod Jimmy in "Quadrophenia" and of course the original cause-less rebel of James Dean.
Liam's progress from early-on comically getting a reversing truck to run over a policeman's motorbike in a gag used before by Woody Allen to the "sting" he falls victim to when required to stab a man to death in an underworld initiation test shows how far he comes / falls in his journey into darkness.Filmed in real locations certainly familiar to me and without his sometime trait of attendant sentimentality, I think this is one of the best Ken Loach films I've seen.
It tells the story about a 15-year-old boy named Liam who makes a living selling cheap fags with his best friend named Pinball and who lives in an apartment in a coastal city in Scotland with his sister named Chantelle who is a single mother and a student.
Liam is out of school and two months away from turning sixteen which is only one day after his and Chantelle's mother named Jean, who abandoned them when they were children and who is in prison for having taken the blame for a crime her boyfriend named Stan committed, is going to be released.
While notable for it's distinct and naturalistic milieu depictions and fine cinematography by English cinematographer Barry Ackroyd, this character-driven and narrative-driven story about family relations, friendship, social conditions and how a street-smart juvenile's love for his mother and his admirable hope that she will change her ways and leave her criminal and incriminating boyfriend so they can become a family, leads him into crime, depicts a considerate and conscientious study of character and contains a great score by British composer George Fenton.
This intelligible, sociological and at times humorous coming-of-age drama from the early 21st century which is set in the Central Lowlands in southern Scotland during the early 2000s and where a fatherless young man who cares more about the well-being of others than himself finds an attainable lifeline in the representation of a caravan which he thinks he can obtain by breaking the law, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, efficient continuity, distinctive Scottish dialect, heartrending scenes between Liam and Chantelle, contradicting characters, ingrained realism and the empathetic and unforgettable acting performances by Scottish actor Martin Compston in his debut feature film role, Scottish actor William Ruane and UK actress Annmarie Fulton.
i really enjoyed this film heartwarming witty down to earth movie i found it very funny great acting by all the actors.Especially the young martin Compton superb acting diffenetly a name to look out for in the future.good title for the film as it portrays the struggle of Liam just before his sixteenth birthday trying to make life better for his mother and him but the harder Liam tries to make things better he seems to get deeper in to trouble.the film reminds me of Saturday night Sunday morning with Avery young Albert finney because of its working background and Albert finney also tries to make life easier but wines up in trouble with his attitude to his family.once again i loved this film plus its a story to get to grips with emothonely..
I have only just seen this film for the first time and as a teenager that has gone through similar things as Liam, I found it brilliant.
The movie learns us also that the people you meet are crucial in your youth: the drugs-dealer will turn out to be protective, but at the same time he is pulling Liam definitely in the wrong direction..
In particular Annmarie Fulton (as Liams sister) and Gary McCormack (menacing and ruthless as the mother's boyfriend)both gave performances that were breathtakingly real.So it is safe to say I am a fan of Sweet Sixteen, a film so real in every way a film can be real.If you haven't seen it, you're missing the film of the year..
The script is tight, and very true to the subject and for the performers.Shown at the Denver Film Festival, "Sweet Sixteen" was subtitled, a necessary evil for the oft-difficult Scottish-accented dialog.
Ken Loach is a gifted director and the plot intensity is excellently exploited, but the script itself is too lopsided to me.As for the actors, Martin Compston as Liam outperforms all the others; he is really great in portraying a soon-to-be 16-years-old "ned" as they say in Scotland.
i think its a brilliant film and should be available for people that are the age of the character 'Liam' to see!
Liam and Pinball are part of the Loach family.They have already lost when the film begins.From the very start ,the loachesque hero (or heroine) has to fight against a hostile world :he/she really got a raw deal.Think of the characters in "Kes" ,"Poor Cow" ,"Family life" "looks and smiles " or "ladybird ladybird" .The society does not care about them and when the movies ends,something worse might possibly be waiting for them.Loach's pessimism muted in the nineties and it seemed that at times there was some light in the darkness."Carla's song" ,"raining stones" and even "ladybird ladybird" -which equals "sweet sixteen " as far as the violence and the crudeness of the language are concerned- displayed some kind of hope."Sweet sixteen" (what a title!) finds Loach again in desperate hours.It might be his most somber work since "family life" (1972).Like "Kes" 's hero,Liam's life is doomed to failure.Billy's hawk is the equivalent of Liam's mobile home.When the bird is killed and the mobile home is wrecked,nothing remains.What needs Liam is a strong shoulder to lean on ;like Billy or Janice ("family life" )he 's left on his own -Liam has Chantelle but the others are too numerous-.Like them,his only way is down.And however how much we side with him!All that he does,he does it for an irresolute mother -who was still a kid when she had us ,Liam tells his sister-.He does not realize that it's too late for his mom,that she is under her hateful lover's thumb,and that the quiet life (with his sister and little Calum) he longs for is only an illusion.The last picture might be a nod to François Truffaut's "les quatre cents coups" ..
It's just another ordinary day if you bump into someone like Liam, they are everywhere." The only thing I did after watching this movie is "kept thinking about the future of this world (not only the UK)" if we allow irresponsible/incapable parents to keep on jeopardizing our society by producing or rearing prospective criminals at home.
If you're bored or feeling like a melancholy movie or just randomly want to hear some heavy Scottish accents, I'd recommend it, but not if you know people who began screwing up their lives at a very young age, because then it'll just leave you sad.
Sweet Sixteen is no exception.The story centers on a fifteen year old, Liam, who lives in Glasgow, Scotland in the weeks leading to his sixteenth birthday.
In Ken Loach's touching Sweet Sixteen, an empty trailer overlooking the Firth of Cyde in the depressed, Scottish town of Greenrock looks like the key to a better life to 15-year old Liam.
First-time actor Martin Compston, a professional soccer player from the Greenrock area picked by Loach from a high school audition, holds the film together with a truly convincing performance as the good-natured teenager who has excellent motives but lacks the ability to realize them in socially acceptable ways.
With a great screenplay by Paul Laverty, Sweet Sixteen is one of Loach's most powerful works, a film that sadly suggests that in a country where almost one in three children are living in poverty, some see crime as the only available option.
I bet you've seen some real poverty " I asked " Yes I did " he replied " and it was nothing like sweet sixteen " I wonder how many people who love Loach films have the misfortune to have experienced poverty ?.
Now a much-lauded critical success that has made an overnight star of it's lead, Martin Compston, "Sweet Sixteen" is an enjoyable study of the human capacity for self-deception and self-destruction, set in an environment of poverty and drugs.Compston plays Liam, a teenaged down-and-out living in Greenock, Scotland in the company of his sister Chantelle (Annmarie Fulton), a single mum, and her young son Calum (Calum Alees).
The plain reality of life for Liam and everyone in his world is presented in a balanced way, with both it's knockabout humour and painful limitations.Director Ken Loach did not depend too much on a script for this production, rather letting the actors (all chosen from the local area) do alot of improvisation and it is in these instances that the film works better, as the dialogue feels more natural.
The film opens with the main character, a fifteen year old boy called Liam, being taken to visit his mother in prison.
This sets the tone for the rest of the film, as Liam tries to make a better life for his mother but increasingly becomes drawn into a dangerous underworld of drug dealing and gang violence.Martin Compston gives an excellent, and thoroughly believable, performance in the role of Liam, and he is ably supported by a superb cast, particularly Annmarie Fulton who plays Liam's sister, Chantelle.
Compston is a non-professional actor, but is a great choice for the leading character who may be doing wrong, but for the right reasons, it is a simple story about a teenager doing whatever it takes to help himself and his ex-junkie mother, the majority of the film is depressing and hard-hitting, with drug dealing and violence, this and the swearing definitely makes the film worthy of an 18 certificate, but it leaves room for lighter moments, it is suggested you watch this with subtitles, the Scottish accents are very strong, a controversial but worthwhile drama.
And if you watch thinking this is going to be a story with a happy ending you're not paying attention.What we have in this touching, straightforwardly plotted little Ken Loach film is the paradox of a winner on a losing downward path.