MovieChat Forums > Sweet Sixteen (2002) Discussion > question for the scottish?

question for the scottish?

posted 16 years ago by studpuppie83
8 replies | jump to latest

i just watched this movie even though its in english and had subtitles, why? i have no idea but it was still good i'm from tennessee and after about 10 minutes i could understand it fine at first it was strange because most scottish accents i've heard didn't sound like that my question is did this movie accuratly potray scottish accents? if it did i have to say i enjoyed it alot better than what i'm used to "mel gibson" in particular, although there is something that got on my nerves a little bit the word "wee" being used in every other sentence. but i'm not complaining

[–] taurusred 16 years ago

I am from Canada and (at least in our region) we say "wee" and "lads" and "wee ones" (kids) and a lot of the same terms as Scotland. So I guess it wasn't annoying to me. But I can understand it, if you didn't grow up around it.

[–] fificremefarben 16 years ago

Yeah, I'm from glasgow but the scottish accents in this movie are exactly as the people speak from that area. The main actor who plays Liam himself is actually from Greenock himself, where the movie is set.

Although accents in scotland are very varied according to region, so this isn't the way all scots talk. The accent in this movie is quite typical to the lower-paid council-house areas. But all around scotland you'll hear a wide variety of accents

[–] seanmcd5055 15 years ago

Yeah im from Glasgow too and vivit Greenock twice a year for football (well not now seeing as how my team got relegated but never mind) and yeah the accients are spot on.

[–] punkin_it 14 years ago

the pain of being a Clyde fan knows no bounds :-( mon eh ton!

[–] chrisadamz 15 years ago

The stereotypical scottish accent is found more commonly in the highlands

[–] paton_lgb 14 years ago

This is exactly like the way people from Glasgow speak.

It is proper slang. Like for example "wit you dain" means what are you doing?

If you are not from Glasgow then you should also release the characters in this film are what people from Glasgow call NEDS (non educated delinquents)....basically the equivalent of CHAVS in england and THUGS in the states.

[–] barry89 9 years ago

Its similar to how people from the area the movie was set would speak, id say 70% how they would speak and 30% of it is corrected into more polite sounding so more people could understand what was being said.

If they spoke how those people would speak to each other virtually no-one outside Scotland and possibly Ireland would know anything they're saying and even then a lot of people in Scotland and Ireland wouldnt know what theyre saying.

For example they use the word "boys", "what", "follow" and a lot of others in the film which in real life they would never say they'd say "boayz", "wit" and "foally"

[–] TheCineSinge 8 years ago

Many Hollywood (even fellow British) takes on the Scottish accent in film, like Braveheart for example, go some way towards watering it down but for the specific location of Sweet Sixteen, they are spot on - I live roughly ten miles away from where the film was shot and hear the Glaswegian accent every single day of my life. I haven't researched it but as with most Loach, I imagine he used a lot of local actors. No one seems to be trying to emulate the accent here.