Wee Man, The (2012) - Synopsis
THE WEE MAN is written and directed by Ray Burdis (LOVE, HONOUR AND OBEY), producer of THE KRAYS, and is based on the extraordinary and well-documented life-story of the reformed Glaswegian gangster Paul Ferris.
THE WEE MAN follows Paul (Martin Compston) growing up an ordinary young kid with decent, hardworking parents in the notorious area of Blackhill, Glasgow and the journey through his teenage years to manhood.
The story begins in the sixties. At the age of just eleven, Paul has already learned that life on the street is tough. Everybody knows his place. Poverty breeds corruption, crime, violence and bullying. Blackhill was the most notorious area of all.
The film charts the way in which Paul was bullied as a child, and whose road to crime came as a reaction against the monsters of his youth. Paul worked for feared gangland boss Arthur Thompson Snr (Patrick Bergin) and rose to power in Glasgow's murky underworld in the late 80s and early 90s. In 1991 he was charged with the murder of Arthur 'Fat Boy' Thompson Jr (Stephen McCole), son of Arthur. Ferris sparked a furore when he was given a hero's reception outside the High Court and walked free after a not-proven verdict, following one of Scotland's longest murder trials. He was jailed for gun-running in 1998, and on his release in 2002 turned his back on his former gangster life and vowed to go straight, determined to teach others how to avoid a life of crime.
