Scottish Movies

Braveheart
Directed by and starring Mel Gibson. This is an entertaining 3 hour epic, containing a perfect blend of action, adventure, romance, tragedy, revenge, torture and suspense. Excellent battle scenes! What more could you ask for? An interval, perhaps? It tells the tale of William Wallace, a Scottish hero of old, who helped rally his people to fight against those nasty English!

Breaking The Waves
Drama set in a repressed, deeply religious community in the north of Scotland, where a naive young woman named Bess McNeil (Emily Watson) meets and falls in love with Danish oil-rig worker Jan (Stellan Skarsgaard). Bess and Jan are deeply in love but, when Jan returns to his rig, Bess prays to God that he returns for good. Jan does return, his neck broken in an accident aboard the rig. Because of his condition, Jan and Bess are now unable to enjoy a sexual relationship and Jan urges Bess to take another lover and tell him the details. As Bess becomes more and more deviant in her sexual behaviour, the more she comes to believe that her actions are guided by God and are helping Jan recover.

The Bridal Path
Based on a novel by Nigel Tranter, The Bridal Path is a light-hearted look at the somewhat unfortunate results that can come of the continued marrying of fairly close cousins in a restricted and remote community. Set in the Hebrides off Scotland, the story tells how Ewan MacEwan leaves the isle of Eorsa in search of the perfect wife, but finally returns to marry Katie.

Chariots of Fire
The true story of two British track athletes competing in the 1924 Summer Olympics. One is a devout Scottish missionary who runs for God, the other is a Jewish student at Cambridge who runs for fame and to escape prejudice.

Eye of The Needle
WWII German superspy, the Needle, who gravitates towards murder using his trusty switchblade, discovers vital evidence about the Allies D-Day invasion. He makes for the Scotish coast to escape on a U-Boat when his small boat is shipwrecked before being picked up and the Needle is washed ashore. He is saved by a man destined to never enter the war and his wife and child. The Needle quickly falls in love with the woman and both must decide between their love or country.

From The Island
The story, which is set in a small village on a remote Scottish Island, centres around the gifted Callum who is in his final year at school and preparing to go to University in Aberdeen on the mainland. He receives private tuition from Charles McAllister a former Headmaster at the village school who has become bitter since the death of his wife. McAllister coaches Callum in French and Poetry. When he is not coaching Callum he is compiling a photo biography of the characters in the village. The wedding of the young village nurse is to form the centre piece of his biography. The story traces the life of characters in the village as recorded by McAllister, but seen through the eyes of Callum. It is the story of the life, loves and motivators in the life of young man in the process of breaking free from the place where he grew up.

Heavenly Pursuits
Vic Mathews teaches a remedial class at the Blessed Edith Semple School in Scotland. Some at the school are trying to discover the two more miracles that would promote the late Edith Semple to sainthood; Mathews, a non-believer, wishes the school would concentrate on teaching the children. He becomes confused, however, when he is involved in possibly miraculous events himself!

I Know Where I'm Going
Joan Webster is a very modern woman (in the 1940's), "She knows where she's going", she has her life carefully planned out from a very young age. She gets engaged to a rich industrialist who has taken a lease on an island in the Hebrides, so she travels up to Scotland to marry him. However, in the Western Isles, life beats to a different drum. A storm prevents her immediate journey to the island so she stays for a while with some of the locals including a young Naval officer, Torquil MacNeil, who turns out to be the local clan head and the true owner of the island. The magic of the local land, it's history and the eccentric people she meets begin to have an effect on Joan and she wonders ... does she really "Know where she's going".

Kidnapped
When young David Balfour arrives at his uncle's bleak Scottish house to claim his inheritance his relative first tries to murder him then has him shipped off to be sold as a slave in the colonies. Fortunately for the lad he strikes up a friendship with Alan Breck escaping from Bonnie Prince Charlie's defeat at Culludon. When the ship's captain tries to kill Breck for his money the two manage to get to land and set out for Edinburgh dodging the ruthless Redcoats.

Rob Roy
Less critically acclaimed, this stars Liam Neeson as Rob Roy and Jessica Laing as his sweetheart. The scenery is great, the characters a bit thin. Look out for Tim Roth as a deliciously evil, scheming English man!

Trainspotting
This is the film of the play of the book, originally set in Edinburgh, but brought to Glasgow for the screen version. It's the story of a group of pals who all take different drugs, to amuse themselves. It has both realism and fantasy, as well as a great soundtrack, but be careful - this is culturally specific material and you may not like what you see.

Gregory's Girl
Directed by Bill Forsythe, this film has been around for a while, but it's a classic - funny, heart-warming tale of growing up and falling in love in the 1980s.

Local Hero
Another funny and visually beautiful film, released in the 1980s. An American oil company wants to buy some land in the north of Scotland. This tells the story of what happens when their representative arrives in the local village. This is my favourite **

Ring of Bright Water
Whoever said dog is man's best friend never met Mij! Mij is a cute, cuddly pet shop otter who captures the heart of Graham Merill (Bill Travers). It doesn't take Graham long to realize that London is no place to raise a slippery otter. So he takes Mij to live in a ramshackle cottage on the coast of Scotland. Together they set out to explore the curious and magnificent natural wonders that surround their seaside home--from orphaned geese to tooth-less sharks. While Mij spends his days frolicking in the icy cold sea, Graham finds himself falling in love with the beautiful town doctor, Mary (Virginia McKenna). Before long, the three become inseparable friends.

Shallow Grave
To avoid spoiling the movie this plot summary is very brief. It starts when three people living together in a four bedroom flat are looking for a house mate. The interviews they conduct are very unorthodox and very funny. Eventually the three agree on one prospective tenant. He moves in, locks his door, and is not seen again. After a couple of days the three become curious and break in to his room. What follows is an amazing piece of cinema and to say more would ruin it.

The Wicker Man
Police Sgt. Howie, of the Scottish mainland, receives an anonymous letter from the offshore community of Summerisle, asking him to investigate the disappearance of a young girl there. He travels to the remote isle and discovers a secretive, tightly knit neo-pagan society. Being a devout (and rather self-righteous) Christian, he is shocked by the islanders' open sexuality and ritualistic devotion to the "old gods." As the mystery of the missing girl unravels, he begins to suspect that she is a victim of human sacrifice. In the film's chilling final sequence, the truth is revealed when Sgt. Howie meets the "wicker man."

The Winter Guest
The film, shot in the East Neuk of Fife,  centers on four pairs - Frances is a recent widow who wants to get away from Scotland to Australia with her teenage son Alex to escape her memories, arrival of her old mother Elspeth makes her reconsider her decision. Alex approaches his first sexual experience with neighbour girl Nita. Chloe and Lily are two old women who like to attend strangers' funerals and Tom with Sam are two schoolboys who skip school to play on the beach and talk.