Sweet Sixteen (2002)
33KSweet Sixteen: Directed by Ken Loach. With Martin Compston, William Ruane, Annmarie Fulton, Michelle Abercromby. Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.
“Winning awards and nominations at Cannes, Sweet Sixteen continues director Ken Loachu0026#39;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 18u0026#39; 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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe 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 Pinballu0026#39;, do little to make his quest easier. He opts for means to an endu0026#39; 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 Homeu0026#39; 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 Britainu0026#39;s finest and conscience-filled directors and one of our most ignored.”
