Small Faces

Against the background of his birthplace Glasgow, film-maker Gillies MacKinnon sketches a family story that provides a less sweet picture of the Swinging Sixties. In London there was Flower Power, but in the Scottish industrial city life was hard. Widow Lorna MacLean has her hands full bringing up three brats. Bobby (19) has joined a violent gang led by Charlie Sloan. He snaps at his brothers and threatens his mother. Alan (16) is a sensitive kid who would like to go to art academy to escape his surroundings. Lex (13) is a little rascal who regards himself as a genius. And then there's the attractive 16-year-old girl Joanne McGowan. Little Lex is in love with her, but he doesn't have a chance. Bobby also makes advances, but Joanne is too interested in Alan. The MacLean Brothers don't just have problems in love. The gangs street violence gets completely out of hand when Lex, more or less by chance, shoots the dangerous and psychopathic gang leader Malky Thompson with an air pistol. Mother MacLean tries to improve her future by buttering up her American brother-in-law. The film has both realistic and more unreal elements; alongside the raw street violence, the film also portrays the dreams of the protagonists. The film was made on a small budget and greatly praised (in e.g. Variety) for the good acting.