Sweet SixteenKen Loach 2002

Sweet SixteenKen Loach 2002

Martin Compston - Liam

William Ruane - Pinball

Annmarie Fulton - Chantelle

Michelle Abercromby - Suzanne

Michelle Coulter - Jean

Tommy McKee - Rab (grandad)

Gary McCormack - Stan

Jon Morrison – Douglas (Gang leader)

Living with CrimeMacro features• Genre – Living with crime - Social Realism & views

on British society.• Narrative – How the film uses storytelling &

characters to communicate its ideology.• Representation – Close study of gender, age, class,

race and regional identity.• Context – When and where the film is made and by

who. Any other production notes.

Genre How are codes & conventions of Living with

crime & British Social Realism used within this film?

The codes and conventions of British Social Realism are;

Location shooting (not studio)Wide shots vs extreme close upsLets emotion play out through the sceneNon-professional actorsSemi improvised scriptsHumour and seriousnessThe erosion of regional identitiesWider social issues explored via emotional and

dramatic individual storiesTriumph over adversity

Narrative How does the film use storytelling and characters to communicate its themes?

• What are the themes?• How is the narrative structured to support this?• How do the characters relationships drive the narrative forward?

Martin Compston‘Liam’

• Martin Compston is the protagonist in this social realism film who appears through out the whole narrative. He shows the audience what life is like for teenagers who live in poverty in some areas and who do not have any real support to help them achieve their dreams and so they have to use what ever they can get away with to try and create a life that their parents could not provide them with.

• Martin’s only motivation through out the film is his mother. He wants to help her have a better life and make her happy even if she is determined to be with her boyfriend ‘Stan’ who committed a crime which she covered up for and agreed to go to prison for. He makes most of his decisions on the idea that it would help his mother which some may think as obsessive. It shows his commitment to his family even if the ones who he could save are trying to save him.

• Martin’s character is willing to leave his best friend, hurt his sister and agree to a life of danger and crime to achieve his goal of a happy life for him and his mother.

• Martin’s character is seen in comfortable clothing through out the film which could suggest that he doesn’t really care about how the outside world sees him or it could also suggest that he has something to hide because he is always wearing baggy coats and jumpers which he could hide something underneath for example a knife. However, when his mother is let out of prison we see him in a very formal suit which shows how much he craves her attention and wants to make her impressed with how he has grown up and been able to make something of his life with no help from any parental role models, in addition it shows how he can change to meet the expectations of people he admires.

William Ruane‘Pinball’

• William Ruane’s character is Liam’s best friend who helps him sell and steal drugs. He is in most of the narrative but towards the end is gone and saved from the life he craves which could potentially put him in a lot of danger because of his personality.

• He can get jealous very easily and makes rash decisions to get revenge which means he can’t be very trust worthy. Which is shown when Douglas doesn’t want him to work for him because of what he did, he then reacted and took out his anger on his only friend Liam.

• We know that Pinball didn’t have the parental role models that some one so young needs to look up to. His father was a drug addict which showed Pinball a life that wasn’t very achieving, it didn’t give him a life with which he could create a happy life for him and live in peace and not in danger. Because this is the only life Pinball knows it is the only life he can see for himself and so although his father showed him the effect drugs can have which meant that he lived a life of danger and pain he still thinks that is the future he is destined for and he isn’t going to try and change what will happen to him, he only wants to get money while doing it to have some happiness in his life. Because Pinball was left to his own devises he found a good friend that would stand by his side and help him achieve his destiny. But Liam was more aware of what he was doing and was determined not to fall for a life with no happiness which he also didn’t want for Pinball. Pinball wants to get money and get a good job but inside he is still a young boy who wants to act like a grown up by copying what they do and most of the adults in his life do drugs and so that is what he wants to do but Liam doesn’t allow him to not because it is bad for his health but because it is bad for business. Pinball still acts like a child whereas Liam has grown into a man. He makes rash decisions to get revenge for the pain he feels mostly towards Liam who tries to protect Pinball but Pinball only sees it as trying to get rid of him so that he can get all the money and he starts to get obsessed by the idea of that and takes out all of his pain on him by burning down the caravan which he knew meant so much to Liam.

• William’s character is seen through out the film in comfy track suits which shows how he doesn’t care and might have something to hide.

Annmarie Fulton‘Chantelle’

• Chantelle’s character is more of the mther figure for Liam. She is the one who is by his side through out the whole film even when Liam attacks her to prove a point. She tries to help Liam so that she has some family left to help her raise her child Callum who also loves Liam a lot. She wants to give Liam a good life which she knows their mother can not. Chantelle gave up on her mother from very early on which shows that she wasn’t a good mother and shows that Chantelle is eager to have a good life even if it is difficult when she has no help from her mother.

Michelle Coulter‘Jean’

• Like mother from fish tank doesn’t care what he does she will do what she want although she isn’t as violent as Mia’s mother.

Gary McCormack‘Stan’

• likemother

Michelle Abercromby ‘ Suzanne’

• Sort of like Billy because she is nice and shows what his life could be like. You hope Liam and suzanne get together like Mia and Billy do in the end.

Tommy McKee Rab ‘Granddad’

Jon Morrison ‘Douglas (Gang leader)’

• Like connor

RepresentationClose study of gender, age, class, race and

regional identity.• How are people and places represented in

Sweet Sixteen?

Context When and where is the film made and by who? Research some production notes...• Martin was made to do the film• Media representation is high in unemployment and drugs• Martin Lives in Greenock, loves it there thinks it beautiful• Ken found the contrast between the beauty and the meagre lives attracted him to have it filmed there.• Martin was surrounded by friends who had parents who were abusive and some of them went into drugs to

get easy money.• Martin wanted to be a professional footballer but now is dedicated to acting.• Scripts some of it improvised. Some actors didn’t know that they were selling drugs. Anmarie was kept in the

dark so that she only knew how much her character knew, which made her scenes more realistic and believable. She only found out the truth when she saw the final film at the end of filming.

• The fight scenes were as real as they were he didn’t want any padding or any training on how to fight and he got a broken rib at one point to show how they would fight in Greenock and make it as realistic as possible.

• Sweet sixteen was shot in sequence like fish tank.• Having actors that aren’t from the areas where the films are set the audience don’t sympathise with them as

much and they seem more scripted and performed even if they are very good actors and are playing very good roles however you need some scripted humour to break up the seriousness.

• Many of the people in the film couldn’t see the film because they were under age and many of the audience who it is aimed at can’t see it because they are under age.

• Martin feel that he is the modern day boy from kez and so might not become memorable.

Some comparative questions to consider...

• Is Liam’s Character affected by crime in the same way that Mia’s character is?

• How does regional identity play a part in the difference in Liam and Mia’s characters?

• Does gender play a difference to Liam and Mia’s characters?