Peter Mullan has produced a film of outstanding beauty, raw brutality, warm humour and real pathos. Even without being unable to understand a fair deal of the dialogue, the excellent acting and characterisation was enough to convey the powerful storyline with ease. This is brutal British cinema at it's best. John McGill, a promising schoolboy in 1970s Glasgow, is a sensitive and gentle child routinely subjected to intimidation. As John becomes increasingly angry and determined to fight back, he begins a descent into violence and apathy that threatens to overwhelm him. Will he succumb to the dark allure of gang life, or will he regain the strength he needs to get his life back on track?

As per previous review it is episodic but an excellent piece of film. Throughout the film I was able to reflect on my youth and others I knew. Several segments where exceptional reflection. Characterisation was spot on.Belts whipped out from the shoulder and the flowing gowns - who'd have thunk it wasn't only my school!!! Looks like it ran out of an ending. Should be thought provoking but director should be able to direct to the end. Thrown to the lions is poor explanation for what has went before. Yes the Jesus vision is poor - but this is tempered by the almost anonymous but iconic cameo by the director.Anyone any other insight to the contrived ending?I would like to think that there are some insights that I have not considered that will improve this film scoring in my view. Maybe I just didn't twig to the ending!!!

Set in Scotland in the 1970s, the film centres on a promising young Scottish boys initial advancement through secondary school followed by an unrealistic regression in to a border line psychopath who has a "canny" grasp for Latin. He returns to school after a 6 week summer break more like a pre-borstal Scotish version of Carling (Ray Winstone) from Scum. Quite unbelievable that 6 weeks is all it takes for him to turn to the dark side. On a plus note the acting was solid and I suppose if you were born and bred within that particular environment then the film would have more resonance. Bleak with a heavy dose of realism, this film does not sugar coat life in the Glasgow ghetto.

Saw this film as part of the Tribeca film festival in New York yesterday My biggest concern with this film is that it's too White washed. I have lived in that part of the country and now living in New York with friends from that part of the world I find it hard to digest that everyone in the movie was white. I do understand that its not set in current day but even back in the day ethnic groups existed. They would have called for a greater conflict had they been represented. The movie doesn't seem to a true representation.Also the has moments of being too cheesy or calculated. The Jesus scene is completed uncalled for and it almost feels its a scene belonging to a different genre. I was extremely disappointed to see this film part of Tribeca's programming because there is nothing unique about this film.