Sweet Sixteen
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Annmarie Fulton, Martin Compston, Michelle Abercromby, Michelle Coulter, William RuaneBrand: Lions Gate
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Running Time: 106 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-10-07
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Lions Gate
Movie Reviews of Sweet Sixteen
Movie Review: Just Like Life For Some!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ken Loach is probably one of the last directors-auteurs in world cinema today, and certainly one of the most influential, independant and politically motivated directors in British cinema.Any new film by Loach is in itself an event eagerly anticipated by viewers, critics and festivals alike.Sweet Sixteen is his latest masterpiece that is a world apart from most movies we watch these days.I can even say that the film took me back to the golden age of serious, original and heartfelt moviemaking of the late 60s to late 70s, that started with the French Nouvelle Vague and ended sadly with the debacle of Heaven's Gate.
Sweet Sixteen is the story of Liam, a working class and underpriviledged boy of fifteen, waiting eagerly for his mom's release from prison,the day before his sixteenth birthday, to start afresh and try to break the cycle of misery and poverty that has been his lot all his life.
He finds a caravan for sale at the edge of a lake, with breathtaking scenery, and is determined to buy it for his mother,sister and her small toddler as a stepstone for the new start he craves.
He is prepared to 'sleep with the devil' to achieve his goal, and get enough cash to pay for this dream home, and in that case, the devil is the local drug baron who trusts him enough to include him in his inner circle, after a hard test.
Liam moves from the petty and illegal sale of cigarettes to drugs which he never uses himself, but is prepared to go all the way in the 'devil's' territory and dirty work in an unflinching determination to achieve his dreams.
His new boss even offers him a flat, after his caravan was burned, since as he said, he takes cares of 'his own'.
Yet the hard life that has been his for as long as he remembers, is a much stronger force than the aspirations of a teenager, and with a best friend who betrays him, his mother's boyfriend who is as nasty as they come, his cold and detached grandfather, and eventually his mother who finds it impossible to break from her relationship when she comes out of prison, and in a way is totally mentally imprisoned by the negative resignation to her fate, all these manage to destroy Liam's dreams, and lead him subsequently in a rash moment to an act that will forever crush him.
The very end, which I will not reveal,is one of the most powerful scenes I have seen for a long while,heartbreaking, but utterly moving.
Yes, Sweet Sixteen is depressing, but in the same way that life can be.
The film mirrors the reality of the underpriviledged, the limited choices and opportunities they have got, and even with the great effort they put to break out, the odds are mostly stacked against them from different sources or circumstances.
Yet, amid this gritty realism, there is some hope in Sweet Sixteen: The decency of Liam is quite astounding.His dedication and total devotion and need for his mother, his loyalty for his best friend, and his love for his sister and his nephew are never compromised by what he goes through, and this was marvellous to watch, and has a message that even though at the end things will not work as one plans, the qualities of a person inside can survive.
Loach style was also quite stunning,and he films the slums of Glasgow with the same beauty he films the scenery of the countryside, and with enough light to lift the mood slightly.(minimal night or rain shots)
Lastly I have to say what a brilliant eye Loach has for choosing his cast, and he could not have chosen a better lead to play Liam that Martin Compston: he was excellent,as well as AnneMarie Fulton(the sister) and Gary McCormack(mom's boyfriend).
Sweet Sixteen may be depressing yes, but never sentimental or overbearing, just real like life itself,where there aren't always happy endings. A Masterpeice and a Must Buy!
Summary of Sweet Sixteen
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