Sweet Sixteen (2002 film)
| Sweet Sixteen | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Ken Loach |
| Produced by | Rebecca O'Brien |
| Written by | Paul Laverty |
| Starring |
Martin Compston Annmarie Fulton William Ruane |
| Music by | George Fenton |
| Cinematography | Barry Ackroyd |
| Edited by | Jonathan Morris |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | Icon Film Distribution |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
106 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom Germany Spain |
| Language | Scots English |
| Box office | $316,319 |
Sweet Sixteen is a 2002 drama film directed by Ken Loach. The film tells the story of a teenage boy from a troubled background, Liam, who dreams of starting afresh with his mother who is completing a prison term. Liam's attempts to raise money for the two of them are set against the backdrop of Greenock, Port Glasgow and the coast at Gourock.
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.
...
Wikipedia