Review of Sweet Sixteen (2002) by Art S — 14 Aug 2018

Ken Loach makes social realist films, similar to the Dardennes Brothers from Belgium, but he has been at it for a lot longer (his 1969 film, Kes, is a real tearjerker about a poor boy whose falcon becomes the only thing that makes life worth living).

Jonathan Rosenbaum refers to these films as "social deterministic" and I suppose they do point to poverty and its ill effects as causal factors - or at least constraints - that lead to all the sad and bad outcomes that his characters face.

In Sweet Sixteen, newcomer Martin Compston plays Liam, a teen with an unstable family life in Greenock, Scotland (subtitles are required). His mum is in prison and her boyfriend is a vicious drug dealer aided by Liam's own grand-dad.

His sister is estranged from the family and is a single teen mum herself. After a row, Liam leaves to join his sis and optimistically plans a future where he can live with his mum in a caravan overlooking the scenic River Clyde.

This takes money so he and a friend steal drugs (from his mum's boyfriend) and begin dealing, eventually catching the eye of the local drug kingpin, who signs them up for bigger things. Compston's portrayal of Liam is exhilarating - he is full of energy and laughter and basically fearless, getting into a lot of scrapes and earning a few hard knocks.

However, despite his optimism and positivity about the future, we know that this is not the kind of enterprise that leads to good things and this is not the sort of movie where things work out. Loach (and screenwriter Paul Laverty, who also co-wrote Loach's most recent hit, I Daniel Blake, 2016) has a different message to convey.

But he does it with a true affection for his characters and sympathy for their plight and their often fruitless and frustrated attempts to deal with it.