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Preview by Jack Foley |
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HAVING already won Paul Laverty an award for Best Screenplay at the Cannes
Film Festival, it is little wonder that the latest film from Ken Loach is
being hailed as one of the biggest British movies of the year.
Set in the small Scottish town of Greenock, just along the Clyde from Glasgow,
Sweet Sixteen is far from the sweetness and light that its title suggests
- rather, it is a gritty, violent and frequently downbeat tale of a 15-year-old
boy who turns to drug-dealing in a desperate bid to raise enough money to
buy a trailer for himself and his mother when she gets out of prison.
And being a Ken Loach affair, the film does not pull any punches, being littered
with some colourful language throughout and refusing to take an easy route
to a satisfying conclusion. This is a million miles from Hollywood at all
times and really gives credence to that age-old saying, 'it's grim up North'.
The decision to opt for as realistic approach to the film as possible was
made at an early stage, when Loach decided to cast untrained teenage actors
to give the film an even more gritty, realistic feel. Indeed, some of the
Scottish accents are so thick that it is hard to decipher some of what is
being said, while the director opted to add English subtitles to the film
for its Cannes premiere.
And while the resulting picture is certainly tough viewing, you cannot help
but admire some of the performances, especially that from 17-year-old Martin
Compston, as Liam, whose decision to deal drugs can only really have tragic
consequences.
According to Loach: "We had a long search for the lad who plays Liam
because he has to be lots of different things, and I suppose the search helped
us define what we were looking for. He's a working class lad, he's very bright,
he makes you smile when you meet him because of his cheek and his ability
to come up smiling whatever life throws at him. So, he's a survivor."
Compston was chosen from a local school after months of searching and confesses
that it was his father who persuaded him to go to the audition, even though
he had never acted before. In fact, the young star prefers football and has
signed for Morton Football Club in the Scottish Second Division, where he
now commands first team football.
But this drew Loach to the teenager, as he reveals: "I think it's interesting
that Martin is a footballer because of the discipline of training. When the
whistle blows, you've got to perform. You pick yourself up whatever knocks
you get - I think that discipline was important as preparation for the kind
of work you have to do when you are filming."
As for the other actors in Sweet Sixteen, Michelle Coulter, who plays Liam's
mother, has worked in drug rehabilitation projects for the past 10 years but
never acted, while Annmarie Fulton, who plays his sister, has only recently
completed an HND qualification in acting but has also never filmed before.
Needless to say, Loach is delighted with the results, particularly as the
movie played to such acclaim at Cannes. He decided to take on the project
after filming Bread and Roses in LA and spent a lot of time with young people
while preparing.
According to writer, Laverty: "For some time I'd been talking with Ken
about doing another very personal story; about how one young person tries
to make sense of his life. It's as simple and as complex as that. Friends,
family and community connect or smash up against each other in endlessly complex
patterns.
"Liam
is at a delicate point in his life. Some things just don't fit, though he's
absolutely determined to use his considerable talent and cheek to make them
do so.
"What struck me from talking to lots of carers who work with children
(either in children's homes with foster carers or even secure accommodation)
was that, no matter how chaotic the family home, most were still determined
to make contact with their mother. There's something extra concentrated about
adolescence.
"There's a special energy which can be exhilarating or explosive. Fragility
and often a wild courage, even if misplaced, can sit easily side by side.
We were keen to try and capture some of those qualities in our story."
Audiences can discover whether they have succeeded when the movie opens in
cinemas on October 4.
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