Scotland in Film by Kyle Young ©
Just as the island of Todday was a character in ‘Whisky Galore’ Edinburgh is a clear presence in this morality tale of middle-class foolishness that won Maggie Smith an Oscar for her fine portrayal of a confused moralist. The poetic presence of Rod McKuen’s song ‘Jean’ didn’t do any harm either.
One of the best films to be made anywhere in the last 50 years is The Wicker Man, directed by Robin Hardy in 1974. There is an argument that this is a horror film, and another that it is a musical featuring folk tunes that are still memorable thirty years later. Initially the film was the second half of a double bill but took on a life of its own in the age of the VHS and DVD, becoming not just a cult classic but inspiring a festival of the same
The story, like all the best tales, is simple enough. Edward Woodward is a policeman who comes from the Scottish mainland to Summer Isle to investigate the disappearance of Rowan Morrison the daughter of a local shopkeeper. In the course of his investigations he discovers that sex and rituals inordinately obssess the locals. He concludes that the girl was the victim of a ritual sacrifice.
The sight of schoolgirls dancing naked around a monument, Christopher Lee in a Kilt, and Britt Ekland (actually her body double) dancing naked against a wall to tempt him into the sexual act, and the fact that everyone bursts into song at every opportunity, makes the policeman become more and more confused until the horrific but entirely understandable ending. The Wicker Man is a triumph of British Film making, and one of the best horror films ever made.
When we think of Danny Boyle, we think of Trainspotting. However Shallow Grave, which he directed in 1995 is another cult classic from this Northern filmmaker with soul. Three flatmates decide to rent out their spare room to Keith Allen, who is found dead. He has left behind a suitcase full of stolen money, which they decide to keep while disposing of their temporary flatmate in the aforementioned shallow grave.
Unfortunately the money is soon the target of the original thieves who understandably use some degree of violence to get their cash back. This is a film which gave the Scottish film industry a healthy kick up the backside and led to Ewan McGregor getting his first starring role.
The film tuned perfectly into the Thatcherite zeitgeist that money was money no matter where it came from and that there was no such thing as society, so if you got it you kept it. Really, it was a wry commentary on the ethics and the morals of the middle-class that hit a nerve in the general populace, making it a major hit still fondly remembered today.
Danny Boyle gave Scotland a lot more credibility in his next film Trainspotting made in 1996. Irvine Welsh had brought out the cult novel a few years previously and it is possible to say that Braveheart made Scots come out of the cinema raving against the English, while Trainspotting made them feel cool. Boyle and Hodge might have created a dark, depressing tale about the side of Edinburgh that millions of visitors never see.
