last king of scotland :O(
my scottish friends laughed when i said braveheart was a scottish film
For me, the outstanding Scottish film is Bill Douglas’ My Childhood. I would also recommend: Red Road, Local Hero, Sweet Sixteen, The Wicker Man, and yes The 39 Steps is certainly part Scottish. Ratcatcher has had a lot of admirers. Film versions of Macbeth could count, eg Welles and Polanski, and Wilder’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is set largely in Scotland. On the “supposed top 10” list (who decided?), Braveheart is a travesty, and Brigadoon an inferior musical. I Know where i’m Going (Powell, Pressburger) is a popular classic.
Aye, I would like to dig more into Scottish films… especially more contemporary ones. And I just LOVE the Scottish accent. :)
Where did that list come from?
Any list of the best anything that includes Gibson’s noxious bullshit warmongering crapfest BRAVEHEART is a pathetic excuse for a list.
What? No Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue? Hmmph.
Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher is one great scottish film.
One might also consider Culloden, Breaking the Waves, Young Adam, Comfort and Joy, Eye of the Needle, The Edge of the World (if the Shetland Islands count as part of Scotland), Morvern Callar, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Tunes of Glory, and The Spy in Black all of which have their defenders and are, to my mind as good as at least a couple of the films on the list.
My personal favorites would be the Forsyth films, Culloden, the Powell films, Whiskey Galore, Tunes of Glory, Young Adam, The 39 Steps, The Wicker Man and maybe a Macbeth or Breaking the Waves thrown in as well. Oh, and I like Brigadoon quite a bit even if it isn’t a top-notch musical the scenes in the bar after the return from Brigadoon really work for me, plus I like Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse, Kelly and Minnelli too much to be reasonable about its imperfections.
Incidentally, I wasn’t kidding about Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue either, it’s a good solid film, much better than Braveheart even if it was rated G. (Not to be confused with the Liam Neeson version made decades later…)
I always liked Morvern Callar.
I’d also like to see more contemporary Scottish films.
My Name is Joe (Loach) is worth seeing too. Much as i admire his political commitment i can’t help regretting Loach’s neglect of poor little Wales, given his 3 Scottish and 2 Irish films- he’s hardly alone in that neglect but as he seems a decent guy i may need to contact him to point out his reinforcement of a longstanding problem
Forsyth is great
Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting and Shallow Grave
David Mackenzie’s Young Adam
Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher and Morvern Caller
Ken Loach’s Sweet Sixteen and Ae Fond Kiss
Andrea Arnold’s Red Road
Ah, sad it is, but I’ve seen but one Loach and no Douglas or Ramsay, and hadn’t even heard of Red Road until now. It’s clear my Scots cred is clearly lacking. Still, there must be more films that we haven’t brought up that are worth seeing as well. I seem to remember far more kilts in cinema than I see listed here so far…
There’s also Fat Bastard in Austin Powers, and a similar-sounding Shrek! And Steve Mcqueen’s little buddy in The Great Escape. As for kilts, notably raised in Carry on up the Khyber- the British Empire won not on the playing fields of Eton but the haggis and caber-tossing fields of Scotland. Oh and Bond had a trick or two beneath his sporran in On His Majesty’s Secret Service
excellent thread like the Irish one, i can’t believe i’ve seen an Arnold and Ramsay film before Greg X aka the guy who’s seen everything like Kenji ;)
kudos to Young Adam and i also enjoyed Mackenzie’s feisty Asylum and the slight coming-of-age Hallam Foe or a modern peeping tom, hehe.
i’m particularly searching for older Scottish cinema such are Forsyth in the 80’s and Cammell in his rarities during the 70’s and some first directorial legends like Alexander Mckendrick.
p.s.: yes, Braveheart seems quite a misfire for a maintained Scottish film list but as far as adventures go, Dog Soldiers was pretty impressive (seriously)
Peter Mullan is arguably the greatest Scottish actor. His films are quite good too. I guess the Magdalene Sisters would be considered Irish but Orphans has to be one of the ten best Scottish films. Forsyth is fantastic. I heard he made a follow-up to Gregory’s Girl but haven’t seen it. Anyone know anything? Comfort and Joy is underrated but Local Hero is my favorite.
Dimitris, i have a very long list of must-sees on auteurs, and am way behind the times. And i would have mentioned Orphans, but haven’t seen it (heard good things though)!
There are a few more kilties in Laurel and Hardy in Putting Pants on Philip with Stan doing a Marilyn Monroe with his kilt, and Bonnie Scotland also John Ford’s The Black Watch and Mary of Scotland See alse Craig Ferguson in The Big Tease. Non Scots filming Scotland includes David Lean’s Madeleine, Breaking The Waves, Charles Crichton’s Battle of the Sexes, with Peter Sellers who also plays a Scotsman in The Awful Truth.Also Harry Houdini in Edinburgh for Death Defying Acts and a movie about the Edinburgh Festival, cleverly called Festival.
There are a set of Scottish sporting movies like Geordie, The Flying Scotsman and the appalling Shot at Glory with former Rangers striker Ally McCoist CGI’ed into a Celtic strip. Celtic fans love their appearances in The Day After Tomorrow, Body of Lies and Tickets.
Better stuff from Gillies MacKinnon with Small Faces and Regeneration. Other Bill Forsyth type movies from Charles Gormley: Living Apart Together and Heavenly Pursuits, and also Restless Natives and The Girl In The Picture. Some social realist stuff like Tickets for the Zoo, The Gorbals Story and The Shipbuilders.
Richard Jobson, former lead singer of The Skids has a set of Scottish films from the Wai Kar Wai wish a like 16 Years of Alcohol through The Purifiers and Woman in Winter to New Town Killers. Robert Rae has the multicultural Trouble Sleeping
Btw Gregory’s Two Girls left me completely cold. As did Stone of Destiny, Greyfriars Bobby, Loch Ness and The Big Man. And avoid the recent UK DVD release of That Sinking Feeling, which has the dubbed voices for the American market, that sounds ridiculous to these ears at least.
My favourite film set in Scotland remains The Maggie, Although Comrades and Sweet Smell of Success are good shouts for my favourite films by Scottish directors. And I’ve not started on Norman McLaren, Crying With Laughter, Venus Peter, Silver Darlings, Kidnapped or the great Alastair Sim.
Great stuff, i was wondering if you’d come with a bucketful of pearls
People have forgotten the prison/gangster film from the 1970s, based on the true story about the gangster Jimmy Boyle called “A Sense of Freedom”- a great piece of work set in Scotland and produced with Scottish money. It’s on region 0 dvd in the UK- a rarely seen classic made for Scottish STV television back in 1979. Set in Peterhead Prison and filmed in and around Glasgow and directed by John Mackenzie, the director of “The Long Good Friday.”
Ozufan, good call on Bonnie Scotland, Kidnapped and the Ford films, as those would definitely be under consideration by me at least as fine Scottish films as well. I’m also looking forward to seeing The Maggie and will look into the other films you’ve mentioned that I know very little about.
here is a link 2 a programme 4 the glasgow film festival
there are lots of film previews near the last pages
http://issuu.com/glasgowfilmtheatre/docs/gff10programme
the road was great….
ratcatcher
my name is joe
small faces
orphans
culloden
the Bill Douglas trilogy
the wicker man
sweet sixteen
trainspotting
i know where i’m going
all probably mentioned but my personal fav’s.
ratcatcher
my name is joe
small faces
orphans
culloden
the Bill Douglas trilogy
the wicker man
sweet sixteen
trainspotting
i know where i’m going
all probably mentioned but my personal fav’s.
Any (contemporary) Scottish made since 2000 on worth seeing?
Recomendations?
Good list keep them coming (Scottish films) especially contemporary films.
I’m seeing: Young Adam, local hero, the wicker man, I know where i’m going, Ratcatcher…. so far.
The Bill Douglas trilogy and I Know Where I’m Going!
The Bill Douglas trilogy and I Know Where I’m Going!
seen so far:
David Mackenzie’s Young Adam- with Ewan McGregor… pretty damn good!
But can someone please tell me.. who “Young Adam” was suppose to be?
McGregor’s character’s name was something entirely different.
Tilda Swendon was good in this as well…
The Wickerman (done in 1970’s.. but still good never the less). I was kinda suprised by the topic. An uptight policman who’s in his 40’s (still a virgin) is lured to this isolated Scottish Island where paganism is still in practice.. .. they even had a few orgy scenes in the grave yard.. ala 70’s style… eww..(warning – women don’t shave under their arm pits or much else). The body in its natural state, pre implants.
I’m about to watch " I KNOW WHERE I AM GOING" .. seems’ to be a quaint little old film done in the early 50’s or late 40’s? about a woman who travels to scotland to marry her fiance, only to get side tracked by circumstances beyond her control and ends up falling in love with someone else…
(someone tell me why is this film on the Criton best list? just curious).
Themis Themis
We’ve talked about the Irish cinema… what about the Scots?
Do they have any good pics out their to reference?
What are your thoughts on Scottish films and is there a Scottish film industry?
The top Scottish films supposively are:
1 Braveheart (1995: director Mel Gibson)
2 Trainspotting (1996: Danny Boyle)
3 Whisky Galore! (1949: Alexander Mackendrick)
4 The 39 Steps (1935: Alfred Hitchcock)
5 Local Hero (1983: Bill Forsyth)
6 That Sinking Feeling (? Bill Forsyth)
7 Gregory’s Girl (1981 Bill Forsyth)
8 The Wicker Man (1974: Robin Hardy)
9 The Bill Douglas Trilogy (1972-78)
10 Highlander (1986: Russell Mulcahy)
11 Brigadoon (1954: Vincente Minnelli)