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| Forget ‘Braveheart.’ Here are 8 movies about Scotland you should watch. | Forget ‘Braveheart.’ Here are 8 movies about Scotland you should watch. |
| (3 days later) | |
| If you've been following news and commentary about Scotland's independence referendum next week, you've probably seen jokes involving the face-painted fellows in the picture above. Fair enough: "Braveheart," with all its heavy-handed sentiment and Mel Gibson-grimacing, has stuck long in the American imagination. (So too, to a lesser extent, this turgid one with Liam Neeson.) But here are WorldViews' suggestions for better films to watch about Scotland. | |
| The historicity of the Shakespearean king may be up for question, but the story is undoubtedly Scottish, beginning with Macbeth's warring with Vikings and ending with an opportunistic English intervention. There have been many terrific film adaptations of the play, including one by the excellent Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. But Roman Polanski's grim, haunting version is probably the most apt. | The historicity of the Shakespearean king may be up for question, but the story is undoubtedly Scottish, beginning with Macbeth's warring with Vikings and ending with an opportunistic English intervention. There have been many terrific film adaptations of the play, including one by the excellent Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. But Roman Polanski's grim, haunting version is probably the most apt. |
| Nevermind the remake with Nicholas Cage. The 1973 film "The Wicker Man," based on an earlier novel, sends a devout police officer to a made-up island in the Scottish Hebrides, where he finds himself surrounded by cultists animated by the archipelago's older Celtic and Norse pagan traditions. | Nevermind the remake with Nicholas Cage. The 1973 film "The Wicker Man," based on an earlier novel, sends a devout police officer to a made-up island in the Scottish Hebrides, where he finds himself surrounded by cultists animated by the archipelago's older Celtic and Norse pagan traditions. |
| This terrific 1964 docu-drama by Peter Watkins aired on the BBC to critical acclaim. An example of cinema verité, it tells through newsreel-style footage the story of the Battle of Culloden in 1746, which led to the end of the Jacobite rebellion and cemented Scotland's union with England. Watkins intended the film as an indirect comment on the war in Vietnam and brilliantly captures the desperation, vanity and cynicism that drives people into conflict. | This terrific 1964 docu-drama by Peter Watkins aired on the BBC to critical acclaim. An example of cinema verité, it tells through newsreel-style footage the story of the Battle of Culloden in 1746, which led to the end of the Jacobite rebellion and cemented Scotland's union with England. Watkins intended the film as an indirect comment on the war in Vietnam and brilliantly captures the desperation, vanity and cynicism that drives people into conflict. |
| A play that was eventually serialized for the BBC, it tells the story of the transformation of the Scottish highlands, from the end of the Jacobite rebellion to the beginnings of its 20th century oil boom. Calculations around Scotland oil, of course, figure heavily in Scottish nationalist arguments for independence. | A play that was eventually serialized for the BBC, it tells the story of the transformation of the Scottish highlands, from the end of the Jacobite rebellion to the beginnings of its 20th century oil boom. Calculations around Scotland oil, of course, figure heavily in Scottish nationalist arguments for independence. |
| An American oil man journeys to Scotland in this 1983 film. "The land breathes with an ancient mystery," intones the trailer's narrator. "And all who witnesses its wonders come to believe in its magic." | An American oil man journeys to Scotland in this 1983 film. "The land breathes with an ancient mystery," intones the trailer's narrator. "And all who witnesses its wonders come to believe in its magic." |
| Here's what my WorldViews colleague Adam Taylor says about this popular romantic comedy: "I had to watch 'Gregory's Girl' in the sex education class at my South London school. It is very Scottish." | Here's what my WorldViews colleague Adam Taylor says about this popular romantic comedy: "I had to watch 'Gregory's Girl' in the sex education class at my South London school. It is very Scottish." |
| The 1990s cult classic, based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, includes this memorable rant about being Scottish. Irvine Welsh, incidentally, has been quite outspoken in his support for Scotland's independence. | The 1990s cult classic, based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, includes this memorable rant about being Scottish. Irvine Welsh, incidentally, has been quite outspoken in his support for Scotland's independence. |
| A feel-good story about two British soldiers returning home from Afghanistan to their families in Edinburgh and pursuing civilian life and love. It's based on a musical by the popular Scottish band the Proclaimers, who, you guessed it, also happen to very much be in the "Yes" camp. | A feel-good story about two British soldiers returning home from Afghanistan to their families in Edinburgh and pursuing civilian life and love. It's based on a musical by the popular Scottish band the Proclaimers, who, you guessed it, also happen to very much be in the "Yes" camp. |
| (A big HT to friends on Facebook who contributed suggestions.) | (A big HT to friends on Facebook who contributed suggestions.) |