- Actors: Martin Compston, Michelle Coulter, Annmarie Fulton, William Ruane, Michelle Abercromby
- Directors: Ken Loach
- Writers: Paul Laverty
- Producers: Gerardo Herrero, Luke Schiller, Michael André, Peter Gallagher, Rebecca O'Brien
- Format: PAL
- Language English
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.85:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 18
- Studio: Warner
- DVD Release Date: 7 April 2003
- Run Time: 106 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00008IAS8
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 12,099 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Released in 2002, Sweet Sixteen represents Ken Loach's finest and most successful work in years. Set in Greenock, a small Glaswegian suburb whose magnificent surrounding landscape contrasts with the urban deprivation of its grey streets and tenements, it tells the story of 15-year-old Liam (Martin Compston), an entrepreneurial young scamp who flogs knocked-off cigarettes in pubs with his best mate Pinball. However, determined to wean his imprisoned mother off her drug-dealing boyfriend Stan, he graduates to selling hard drugs for big-time gangster Tony. He's unscrupulous yet selfless, happy to resort to crime to create a new life for his mum and reunite her with his older sister Chantelle. But reality will sorely test his naive illusions.
Sweet Sixteen, scripted by Paul Laverty, is quintessential Loach, exciting tremendous sympathy for a character whom in real life you might distantly regard as a contemptible scumbag, without romanticising either him or his lifestyle and upbringing. Yet there's real and touching pathos in his deep-seated need to restore his fractured, domestic background: touchingly and pathetically he regards the tiny £6,000 riverside caravan he's earmarked for his mum as "paradise". By the end of the movie, you truly want to hug the poor knife-wielding smack dealer. The cast of (mostly) unknowns all turn in sterling, authentic performances but Martin Compston rightly took plaudits for his unaffected, deeply engaging portrayal of Liam.
On the DVD: Sweet Sixteen on disc offers numerous extras. Subtitles including English may prove necessary even for English speakers to cut through the foggy Glaswegian accents. In the commentary, Loach slams the British Board of Film Censors for their "ludicrous" decision to award the film an 18 certificate. Meanwhile, a short documentary, Sweet Success, reflects on how the film wowed Cannes and the impact it's had on the life of its star, the 17-year-old plucked from obscurity in a mass audition who gave up a promising career as a professional footballer to take up acting instead. --David Stubbs
Special Features
Feature length commentary by Ken Loach (UK exclusive)
"Sweet Success" BBC documentary
TV & Radio Spots
Theatrical Trailer
Languages: English
"Sweet Success" BBC documentary
TV & Radio Spots
Theatrical Trailer
Languages: English
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
an amazing film,please watch it !,
By Laetitia Roy (Paris, France) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sweet Sixteen [DVD] (DVD)
I am astonished I'm the first person to post a review on this masterpiece ! I'm french an in my country, Ken Loach is admired as the great film maker he truly is. And in my point of view, this film is perhaps his best, because even if you disagree with his political view, you will be deeply moved by the principal character. Great plot, great actors, it is human, complex, beautiful and captivating. Please watch it. Vive Ken Loach.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A dark and moving film,
By
This review is from: Sweet Sixteen [DVD] [2002] (DVD)
A dark and harrowing film which follows an optimistic teenager in the drug-infested culture of the housing estates in Greenock in the West of Scotland. Liam wants to make a better life for himself, and his mother when she is released from prison, but to do that he needs money... His ambition and naivety quickly lead him out of his depth, but his vision that things really could be better means that he can't back away. Powerful stuff, and definitely worth watching - especially for the outstanding début performance by Martin Compston as Liam.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A gritty Greenock drama,
By
This review is from: Sweet Sixteen [DVD] (DVD)
Sweet Sixteen puts the West of Scotland ned firmly onto the big screen. The film follows the trials and travails of 'Liam' (Martin Compston) as he descends from a directionless youth into a seasoned drug dealer. His motives are naively sweet - to create a better life for his dysfunctional family members, especially his mother who is soon to be released from HMP Cornton Vale.
Although hard-hitting and coarse throughout (don't watch this if you're easily offended by those elements of the English language that don't usually feature in dictionaries), Sweet Sixteen also contains much black humour and is a riveting 106 minutes. Watching this fictional tale, you can't help feeling that, unfortunately, this movie is probably close in some respects to the day-to-day reality for some urban youth in Scotland, and that's what makes it a more profound film (where 'success' at turn of the century Scotland is defined as a part time job in a call centre, or a life of crime). The DVD also contains 6 outakes that didn't make the final cut. One of them, when Stan's jacket is ruined with a pair of scissors, is actually a classic scene and really should have been in there. Another 'extra' is a full 30 minute BBC Scotland documentary that followed up on the success of the movie. Overall, a great performance by Martin Compston (who went on to appear in films such as Red Road) and a genuinely amusing urban tale.
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