SWEET SIXTEEN

“Kitchen-sink realist” Ken Loach returns to material he knows oh so well: a slice of working class social realism in a tough Glasgow district, rendered deeply moving by his peerless capacity for mixing humor and compassion with honesty and despair. In a setting of rampant unemployment, poverty, crime, and where 75% of the children drop out of school, 16-year-old Liam (Martin Compston) waits for the release of his mother from prison in time to celebrate his birthday. After refusing, however, to pass his mother a stash of heroin for her to sell in jail, Liam is brutally beaten by his hardened grandfather Rab, and his mother's drug-dealing boyfriend, Stan. He's out on his ear, and finds shelter with his older sister, and companionship with his best friend named Pinball. Though unlikely, he sets his sights on buying a trailer home in a peaceful spot for he, his mother, his sister and nephew to move into. His mother, however, has other ideas. His desire for a better life leads him to make reckless forays into drug dealing and along the way earns some business savvy. The majority of the cast is non-professional or young actors with no film experience, perfectly suiting Loach's simple, direct style. Tellingly, his camera is always in a fixed position, at eye level with a longish lens, as if one were standing in the room itself, creating an aura of connection with the characters and situations. A story of loyalty and betrayal, expectations and dashed hopes, the film moves to a fierce emotional climax. (Subtitled in English, due to thick Glaswegian accents.)