Sweet Sixteen

Set in the Scottish town of Greenock, Sweet Sixteen delves into the life of 15 year old Liam; who like many impoverished children with sparse opportunities of hope and success, seems destined for a life of struggle.With his drug addict mother (Jean) in prison, Liam is in the custody of his step dad (Stan) and grandfather to begin with. After being beaten up by Stan and his grandfather following his refusal to give his mother drugs (at Stan's behest) during a prison visit, Liam goes to live with his older sister Chantelle and her young son.During this time, Liam, along with best friend Pinball, devise a money making scheme; Liam's objective being to save enough money to purchase a caravan for his mum once she is released from prison. His hope is that his mum will be able to stay clean from drugs and get her life back on track. He realises it is unlikely to happen whilst his mum continues to live with Stan. He is willing to do anything to ensure this dream is fulfilled - but at what cost?I'd definitely recommend this film to anyone who hasn't seen it, or for someone looking to acquire a collectors piece. It is very Scottish, so if you are not from Scotland, you may struggle with parts of the dialogue. I like the majority of Ken Loach's films but if I had to pick a favourite, it would probably be Sweet Sixteen (however, there are still a couple of his films I've still to see).

First things first (and this may be important): "Sweet Sixteen" is NOT set in a "Glaswegian suburb" of ANY description. Greenock and Gourock are referred to several times throughout the film. It is set, and filmed, mostly in Greenock - a town at the mouth of the Clyde, 20 miles west of Glasgow. One of the main ironies that I think the film tries to address is that, until about 25 years ago, Greenock had fairly low unemployment. : youths like Liam entered the shipyards or engineering workshops (the town's main employers) after leaving school. Until the Thatcher government arrived on the scene, that is. The Tory economic policy of the time was to use high unemployment as a weapon against the working class to keep costs down, whilst all the time talking about "encouraging entrepreneurial activity". All of the Greenock shipyards closed in the 80s and heroin became the new big business in the run-down towns of west central Scotland.The "entrepreneurs" in "Sweet Sixteen" are the drugs dealers and they make it quite clear that they wouldn't be so idiotic as to use the stuff themselves. Liam and Pinball think that they can become 'entrepreneurs', just like the local drugs suppliers, but they are only "streetwise", too young and without any sense of the real brutality which the opposition will use without a pang of remorse.Even though I live in Greenock, it opened my eyes to the 'underclass' that obviously permeates our society. A depressing story, but one that had to be told.[Based on a viewing of the film on tv, I will certainly buy the dvd. When the film was broadcast, it was slated for the intrusive subtitles which, after all, are not provided for the likes of "Coronation Street". I just hope that subtitles are an OPTION on the dvd].

Overwhelming loyalties in a tough Greenock environment left me shaken & stirred. Even criminality in a seemingly dysfunctional social environment has tough honest moral lessons to challenge anybody's judgmental hypocrisy. Stunning scenery showcases the courage and wasted youth our wretched politicians ignore at their peril. Please watch this, and feel guilty and breathless as I do at how we ignore social deprivation at our peril too..another magnificent Kenneth Loach plea for social action now!

You have to hand it to Ken Loach, his films are like no other, and he always captures a moving tale brilliantly, with plenty of grit and black humour. 'Sweet Sixteen' hit the cinemas in 2002, and became a critically acclaimed success.The film centres around Liam (Martin Compston in his debut), a typical teenage Scottish lad from a tough working class background, who is determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison. He sets out to raise the money for a home in a quiet village, but needs the money to do it. Crazy schemes lead to trouble, and Liam finds himself dangerously out of his depth, digging a hole he just can't get out of. We as the viewer feel for him, and it is largely due to Martin's strong acting, and Loach's faultless portrayal of the bleak life people in poverty face.When you watch a Ken Loach film, you can imagine everything that is taking place on the screen as being true, like viewing a documentary, because his movies are so realistic. 'Sweet Sixteen' is a great little film, depressing, moving, and one you'll want to see again.

Well worth the watch, you're missing out if you haven't.

I am a huge ken Loach fan and for me, this is the best one I've seen. The lead actor Martin Compston gives a brilliant portrayal of "Liam", very entertaining, very moving.

My partner loves this film but we couldn't find it anywhere, finally I found it and bought it as a wee surprise, when it arrived the disc was loose inside the box and had scratches on it as the result of this, when watching it, it skipped a few times and nearing the middle it completely jumped and skipped at least 15 minutes of the movie, wouldn't of been that bothered had it not been a vital part of the movie and the best part, we rewound it and it still skipped from the same part and came back on at the same part, since purchasing it we have watched it a few more times on different players and that part is still cut out of the film due to the skips and jumps, this is why I've rated it 3 stars.

Well acted movie

el tema de un chico con una familia disfuncional, en lo que decide hacer para sobrevivir, malo por cierto.

Ken Loach lässt in seinem 2002 gedrehten Sozialdrama "Sweet Sixteen" offen, ob seine 15jährige Hauptfigur Liam möglicherweise zum Mörder, vielleicht sogar zum zweifachen Mörder wurde. Aber manchmal sind die Lebenswege auch schon so niederdrückend vorgezeichnet und die Menschen können nur schwer davon abgehalten werden in den Abgrund zu schlittern. Gespielt wird der schottische Teenager Liam vom Youngster Martin Compston so stark, dass er dafür sogar einen BAFTA Award bekam. Umso interessanter, dass dieser junge Schauspieler sich auch als Profifußballer in Schottland einen Namen machen konnnte.Mit Handkameraaufnahmen gelang dem britischen Filmemacher der Arbeiterklasse ein fast dokumentarisch anmutendes Szenario. Sein Sozialstudie aus den heruntergekommenen Bezirken der schottischen Metropole Glasgow hat es in sich - leider kam sie 2002 ein bisschen zu spät in die Kinos, ein paar Jahre früher während des Siegeszuges des New British Cinema, wäre "Sweet Sixteen" sofort als ultimatives Meisterwerk gefeiert worden. So blieb einer der besten Filme von Ken Loach leider bis heute ein Geheimtipp.Der Regisseur zeichnet dabei ein sehr wehmütiges Bild von einer Jugend ohne große Hoffnung. Diese von der Gesellschaft benachteiligte Unterschicht hat nicht mal in der eigenen Familie einen Schutzraum - die Sehnsucht nach Geborgenheit, Zärtlichkeit und bürgerlichen Träumen treibt aber den jugendlichen Helden in schnellen Schritten in die Kriminalität. Dabei läuft er nicht nur Gefahr ein Verbrecher zu werden, er opfert dabei sogar Freundschaften und seine Unschuld.In ein paar Wochen wird Liam (Martin Compston) 16 Jahre. Gemeinsam mit seinem besten Freund Pitbull (William Ruane) hängt er jeden Tag nur noch ab. Sie sind seit Monaten nicht nur zur Schule gegangen, statdessen verkaufen sie Zigaretten zu Dumpingpreisen. Immer wieder sitzt ihnen die Polizei im Nacken bei diesen illegalen Geschäften. Liams Mom Jean (Michelle Coulter) hockt im Knast für ein Delikt, dass ihr Freund Stan (Gary McCormack) begangen hat. Stan verdient sich gemeinsam mit Rab (Tommy McKee), Liams Großvater mit Drogendeals. Bei einem Besuch im Gefängnis soll Liam Jean Drogen von Stan übergeben, die sie dann im Knast verkaufen. Doch der Junge weigert sich, weil er nicht möchte, dass seine Mom noch eine weitere Strafe aufgebrummt bekommt. Er wird daraufhin nach dem Besuch von Stan und von seinem Opa zusammengeschlagen. Seine Schwester Chantelle (Annmarie Fulton) verarztet ihn, wie sie es schon oft getan hat. Aus Rache klaut Liam gemeinsam mit Pitbull eine Lieferung von Heroin aus Opas Großvaters Haus. Mit der Kohle will er seiner Mutter, die bald entlassen wird, ein besseres Leben ermöglichen - weit entfernt vom schlechten Einfluss ihres Liebhabers. Immerhin kann eine Anzahlung auf ein Wohnwagen in einem Trailerpark mit Blick auf den malerischen Firth of Clyde, gemacht werden. Durch den Verkauf der Drogen wird der örtliche Drogenboss Tony Douglas, ein Unternehmer mit bürgerlicher Fassade, auf Liam aufmerksam. Der braucht toughe Jungs, die für ihn Subunternehmer eines Pizza-Services werden wollen. Natürlich ist die Haupteinnahmequelle der dazugehörige Drogen-Bringdienst. Er macht die Sache gut, doch Pinball ist beim Drogenboss unerwünscht. Das führt zu einem Bruch zwischen den beiden Freunden...Trotz der Unklarheit wie schwer die Verbrechen wirklich wiegen, wird dennoch klar, wohin der Filmemacher die Geschichte hinsteuert. Es ist eine beinahe Null Perspektive für den Jungen, dem in der letzten Einstellung von seiner Schwester zum 16. Geburtstag gratuliert wird. Loach hat die Hauptfigur sehr intensiv und sehr liebevoll geschildert, auch seine tiefe Sehnsucht nach einem besseren Leben. Doch es bleibt Illusion. Er merkt, dass er bei seinem Aufstieg in eine Bande zwar seine Finanzen aufbessert, aber noch viel wichtigeres verliert. Loach hat diese tragische Coming of Age Geschichte bewusst als nüchternes Verlierer-Epos geschildert.

Liam ha un solo desiderio nella sua breve vita già cosi sfortunata: riunire la famiglia.Lo desidera talmente tanto che per inseguire questo suo sogno è disposto a tutto, anche a cacciarsi in faccende più grandi di lui. Ken Loach ancora una volta ha dato voce ai diseredati, ci mostra le periferie delle metropoli inglesi dove dietro le apparenze lucciccanti esiste una realtà cruda, amara. Non esiste affluent society in queso suo film se non quella costituita dai grandi malavitosi che si possono permettere il lusso più sfrenato.( come a dire che l'epoca della Thatcher non ha certo migliorato gli standard di vita dei meno abbienti. Ha solo tentato di nasconderli). E così Liam nell'inseguire il suo sogno procede incurante verso la sciagura. E il regista lo mostra senza fronzoli ,nella sua amara realtà (a partire dall'ironia insita nel titolo"Sweet sixteen").

This is a phenomenal movie about a 15-year-old boy named Liam who is trapped in a culture and lifestyle of crime (in an early scene, his grandfather and his mother's boyfriend demand that he smuggle drugs to his mother in prison), when all he dreams about is creating a home for his mother, his sister, and her child. Liam is destined to repeat the same mistakes that he is fighting so hard against, and all we can do is sit back and watch him struggle with the rock-and-a-hard-place decisions with which he is faced.This may sound like your typical "good boy falls in with the wrong crowd" film, but it is far from predictable, and the story and acting are excellent. Director Ken Loach does a fantastic job with a cast that is new to the acting world (sadly, this film will be overlooked because it features no "big names"), and they portray the culture and lives of these characters quite convincingly.Highly recommended, and it is worthwhile to listen to Loach's commentary track as well.

alles tippi— toppi 👍