Small Faces
1996, 105 minutes, Rated M
Small Faces is a rites-of-passage movie set in Glasgow in the late '60s, a period of hope before the arrival of drugs and mass unemployment. The story centres on the relationship between working class brothers, 18-year-old Bobby, 16-year-old Alan and 13-year-old Lex McClean, the film's narrator.
The dyslexic Bobby belongs to the Glens, a local Protestant gang who are at war with the Catholic Tongs, a rival gang who live on a nearby council estate. Between their home turfs lies a grisly wasteland of sterile earth, stagnant pools and smoking fires.
Alan (Joseph McFadden) is a gifted artist and Lex (Iain Robertson) shows similar promise. The two stand out from the Clydeside gangland norm although their work depicts their violent and harsh surroundings. The boys are reluctantly drawn into Bobby's terrain when Lex accidentally hits the leader of the Tongs with a pellet from an air-pistol. This makes him a hero among the Glens and a target for their enemies. What begins as a comic incident escalates into tragedy.
A relatively unknown cast do full justice to a script that is witty and perceptive about the various confusions of adolescence. Unsentimental in its honesty Small Faces is also funny, engrossing and ultimately very moving.
- Director:
- Gillies MacKinnon [10],
- Starring:
- Kevin McKidd [30], Claire Higgins [2], Iain Robertson [4], Steven Duffy [1], Joseph McFadden [1], Gary Sweeney [1],
- Screen Formats:
- Full Frame 1.33:1
- Language and Sound:
- English Dolby Digital Stereo
Members get full screen trailers, critic reviews, member reviews and more.
