SMALL FACES (63)

Directed by: Gilles MacKinnon

Starring: Iain Robertson, Clare Higgins

The Pitch: In 1968 Scotland, three teenage brothers get involved in local gang warfare.

Theo Sez: Any film that begins "Once upon a time" clearly isn't intended as documentary, especially when it's already introduced all its characters in comic-book form ; yet in fact this funny, sinewy coming-of-age movie is as much a believable account of teenage gangs in late 60s Glasgow as the dreamlike art-movie it pretends to be. It's mostly a question of style - flamboyant films like LEOLO or THE REFLECTING SKIN can pass for dreams but this, despite some striking images, isn't particularly big on visual poetry : it's a memory-piece, highlighted and exaggerated but basically lifelike (and a little plodding, right down to telling us what became of everyone before the final credits roll). Which is not to say it's po-faced - indeed, what with this and the Danny Boyle movies, Scottish culture seems to consist mostly of playing nasty, horrible events as outrageous black comedy (though whether out of deadpan fatalism or too-tough-to-care machismo, or just a warped sense of humour, remains unclear). It's not compassionate in the traditional sense of trying to see the good in people, more in allowing them to be sensitive - not least because Art plays such a surprisingly prominent role in the lives of these inner-city teens (even if it's a bit much when the 13-year-old hero refers to someone as a "working-class Medici"). There isn't much to it, but it's full of nice touches (personal favourite : cycling away from his pursuers on a stolen bike after a frantic chase, our hero, high on adrenalin, sounds the little bicycle bell in triumph, the tiny tinkling sound hilariously inadequate); and it's notably sharp and unsentimental. It has little sympathy for the supporting character of the young painter who allows himself to be beaten up (and who, significantly, is not completely Scottish) : being an artist is all very well, but you've got to know how to fight as well. Indeed, the link it draws between the energy of creating Art and the energy of creating havoc is perhaps the bravest thing about it.