Films set in or about Scotland

This from Mike (Auchterless)

Anyway, I wanted to add to Jacqui's list of Scottish movies, so here goes. Some of these are personal favourites.
Local Hero - My personal all time favorite Scottish movie . Bill Forsyth's masterpiece. It has recently been released on Blu-ray and DVD by the good folks at Criterion. If you have a choice of only one Scottish movie to watch, this is it!
Hold Back the Night - This independent film has been seen by virtually no one. It was made in 1999, and filmed entirely in Scotland. It's a road trip movie, with the final destination being the Ring of Brodgar. Apparently it's available to view on Amazon Prime. Another personal favourite.
Sunshine on Leith - I'm not much for musicals, but this charmer, based on the songs of the Proclaimers, is a treat! It's a paean to Edinburgh. "500 Miles - Sunshine on Leith" is on YouTube. Keep some Kleenex handy!
Restless Natives - The Clown and the Wolfman come up with the brilliant idea of robbing tour buses. This one is a hoot! The scenery is gorgeous. Another personal favourite.
Dear Frankie - Set in Clydeside, this is a touching drama about family life, and a mother's attempt to hide the truth about her husband from her son. Early Gerard Butler. Yet another personal favorite.
Gregory's Girl - Early Bill Forsyth. Charming tale of teenage love, starring John Gordon Sinclair, and Dee Hepburn in her only movie role.
American Cousins - Funny gangster film, set in Glasgow. Any movie starring the delightful Shirley Henderson ("Hamish Macbeth") is worth watching.
Ae Fond Kiss - Beautifully acted film about inter-racial relationships.
My Name Is Joe - Peter Mullan in a superb performance as a recovering alcoholic. Another personal favourite.
And speaking of Peter Mullan, check him out in Tyrannosaur and True North, two slice of life movies. True North was partially filmed in Norway.
Stone of Destiny - Delightful movie, based on the story of the students who stole the Coronation Stone from London back in the 1950s.
Ring of Bright Water - Bill Travers in this film based on Gavin Maxwell's book of the same name. Virginia McKenna stars as Travers' love interest. Not true to the book, but the scenery is wonderful!
Geordie - Also known as "Wee Geordie." Starring Bill Travers (again), plus the wonderful Alistair Sim. Story of a Highland farm boy who sends away for one of those "Charles Atlas" type of books to learn how to become muscular. The course is so successful that Geordie ends up representing Scotland in the Olympics.
Whisky Galore - The original was produced by Ealing Studios in 1949, and was filmed on Barra. The 2016 remake was filmed in Portsoy. The original is a classic. The remake was good, but not great. Based on Sir Compton MacKenzies tale of the S.S. Politician.
Breaking the Waves - Psychological drama starring Emily Watson in an early performance. She was nominated for an Oscar. The graveyard scene at the end was filmed on Skye at the foot of the hill leading down to Neist Point Lighthouse. Perhaps Jacqui can let us know if the gravestones are still there, or if they've been taken away.
Rocket Post - Whimsical tale of the attempt in 1934 by a German scientist to build a rocket to deliver the post from the island of Scarp to the larger island of Harris.
Sunset Song - Remake of the 1970s STV television miniseries, based on the novel by Lewis Grassic Gibbon (which, by the way, has been named the best Scottish novel of the 20th. century). Unfortunately, most of the movie was filmed in New Zealand, and they used an English actress to play the part of Chris Guthrie.
More to come!

More from Mike (Auchterless)
Young Adam - Ewan MacGregor and Tilda Swinton in a gritty drama, featuring murder and nudity.
Red Road - Another gritty drama, starring Kate Dickie as a CCTV operator in Glasgow. This one got great reviews in the national press.
NEDS - Peter Mullan directed this movie about teenage gangs in 1970s Glasgow.
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Maggie Smith ("Downton Abbey") won an Oscar for her performance as as a teacher in an exclusive girls' school. Set in 1932 Edinburgh.
Filth - James McAvoy as a totally corrupt policeman in contemporary Edinburgh. If you liked "Trainspotting," you'll love "Filth"!
Angel's Share - Ken Loach film about the search for the perfect whisky. Billed as "Scotland's answer to 'The Full Monty.'"
I Know Where I'm Going! - This is a classic! Powell and Pressburger's classic, starring Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesey. 1945 black & white. Not to worry, the Corryvreckan Whirlpool scene was filmed in a tank! The ceilidh scene is wonderful!
Edge of the World - Another Michael Powell great! This 1937 film was based on the evacuation of St. Kilda. Powell wanted to film on St. Kilda, but the owner of the island (the Marquess of Bute) wouldn't give permission. So Powell filmed on Foula, in the Shetlands. Also available on Criterion. www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-edge-of-the-world-2000
Hallam Foe - Quirky Comedy-Drama featuring Jamie Bell ("Billy Elliot"), in a movie filmed entirely in Edinburgh, mainly on the rooftops.
Okay, that's enough to get you started for an evening of Scottish films. And since we can't travel to Scotland for a while yet, this will have to do for now.
Don't forget to save me an aisle seat!
Mike (Auchterless)

This from Sownack

One film which does not appear to have made it to the list although if there is more to come it might, is What We Did on Our Holiday starring the legend that is Sir Billy Connolly. Definitely one of my favourite films set in Scotland.
Another is Edie starring Sheila Hancock and Kevin Guthrie.
Some of the 2016 film of Sunset Song was filmed in Aberdeenshire not far from where I live and members of the local community appeared as extras in the film. When the film was released there was a special showing in a local hall and the tickets sold out very quickly.

More votes for anything Bill Forsyth, and agree that Local Hero is at the top of my list of favorite movies.

For a series, check out Shetland.

Rob Roy, 1995 with Liam Neeson. Was that one filmed in Scotland? I will say that for many of us older Americans, its difficult to understand Scottish accents without closed captioning🙂.

Bless Bill Forsyth. Both Local Hero and Comfort and Joy personal favs. Also enjoyed Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting especially Johnny Lee Miller’s “ Sick Boy “ portrayal. If you liked the CBS TV series Sherlock that’s the actor.

The film What We Did On Our Holiday isn’t brilliant but it’s beautiful. Set in rural Scotland with David Tennant, Rosamund Pike and the venerable Billy Connolly it’s a worth a look.

Lastly, Skyfall. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7zKiXD0rzhU

Ha! I'd forgotten about "Comfort and Joy," and I have it in my collection! Bill Paterson was brilliant in that movie. However, the line that sticks with me 35 years later is when Rikki Fulton (Bill's boss) asks his secretary, "Is there a sanity clause?" Of course, as the movie took place around Christmas, that line was hilarious! I still quote it every year, without fail, as Christmas approaches.

It was good to see Bill Paterson in "Outlander," and more recently, "Shetland." He has aged well!

Jacqui, I visited the Neist Point site about two years after "Breaking the Waves" came out. The cemetery was still there, and there was a plaque at the gate stating that it was not consecrated ground - it had been built for the movie. Sandra Voe, one of my favourite Scottish character actors, was chilling as Emily Watson's mother. She also played the shopkeeper in "Local Hero," and has been in dozens of movies and television shows.

Sownack, speaking of "Sunset Song," the original version (1971 - BBC Scotland, not STV (my mistake)), was filmed in your neck of the woods. Scenes were filmed in Glen Tanar, Glen Muick, Fettercairn, and Invercauld. Some nice person has put the entire series on YouTube. All six episodes. However, if you want to own the series on DVD, it's available at the Grassic Gibbon Centre in Arbuthnott. They can't actually "sell" the DVD, but the BBC has allowed them to give it away for a 20 pound donation to the centre. Vivien Heilbron was excellent as Chris Guthrie. "Cloud Howe" and "Grey Granite" were also made in to miniseries in the 1980s, also starring Vivien Heilbron as Chris Guthrie/Colquohoun, but I've never been able to find them on DVD.

BTW, there is an apocryphal story about two American tourists who showed up at the Grassic Gibbon Centre and asked to see the monkeys!

And speaking of David Tennant, a very young Mr. Tennant was part of the cast of an absolutely brilliant BBC Scotland programme called "Takin' Over the Asylum," which starred Ken Stott as a double glazing salesman who moonlights as a disc jockey for hospital radio in a Glasgow mental asylum. Filmed entirely in Glasgow, this is one of the funniest and most touching television series I've ever seen. It originally came out in 1994. It's my favourite mini-series of all time, and my second favourite television show. The really good news is that all six episodes are on YouTube, with subtitles! I bought two copies of the DVD, just in case one got scratched!

"Edie" was recently shown in a library in our town. I had to work that night, so couldn't attend. But I was able to borrow the DVD. Filmed almost entirely in the Highlands, and it makes you want to climb Suilven, no matter how old you are!

Okay, here's the last one - "Sweet Sixteen," another film in the brilliant Ken Loach canon. Filmed mainly in Greenock, Port Glasgow, and Gourock (so you know this is going to be fairly gritty), "Sweet Sixteen" stars Martin Compston as a teenager who is about to turn 16, and whose mother is about to get out of prison. He needs money.

Okay, that's it for now. Please check out "Sunset Song" and "Takin' Over the Asylum" on YouTube.

Happy viewing!

Mike (Auchterless)

I enjoyed the movie "Edie", about a recent widow in her 80s who spent decades caring for a invalid husband. She resists her daughter's urging to move to a retirement home. She instead decides to undertake trip to the Scottish Highland and climb Suilven (731m) in Sutherland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edie_(film)

The primary filming location was the village of Lochinver and the
mountain Suilven in the Northern Scottish Highlands. Sheila Hancock is
noted for actually completing the trek up the mountain herself, and
she claims to have been the oldest person to do so.

YouTube trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO6gNAMdfD0

And in COVID-19 times, a grandmother was recent in the news for climbed the equivalent to Suilven as a fundraiser.
AP News:
https://apnews.com/29f0092b8e8aa5406ede6b3679f45b3a

Scottish grandmother climbs a mountain, one step at a time June 23,
2020

LONDON (AP) — In the end, Margaret Payne scaled her mountain, one step
at a time.

The 90-year-old grandmother who launched an epic climb to raise money
for charity completed her fundraiser Tuesday. Paybe scaled the stairs
at her home the equivalent of 731 meters (2,398 feet) — enough to
reach the peak of Scotland’s iconic Suilven mountain.

Payne, who is from Ardvar in the Scottish Highlands, calculated that
climbing 282 flights of her staircase would get her to the top of a
mountain she climbed only once, when she was 15.

Payne has raised 416,000 pounds ($521,000), much of which came in
small donations from people who were struggling in the pandemic. Among
her many fans are Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, who wrote
Payne to praise her accomplishments.

Well, "Outlander" of course.

"Shallow Grave", a bit creepy but with some scenes of Edinburgh.

Shetland is a wonderful TV series starring Douglas Henshall, who is also in the TV drama In Plain Sight with Martin Compston about the Peter Manuel murders. Set in Glasgow in the late 50s and early 60s.

Jacqui (Skyegirl)

We enjoy the Shetland TV Series but disappointed to learn that:

You may be surprised to discover that the BBC series isn't entirely
filmed on the island archipelago that shares its name.

Actually, a lot of Shetland is filmed on mainland Scotland, especially
in Glasgow and in other areas where the scenery and buildings resemble
those of the islands

https://tv.bt.com/tv/tv-news/where-is-shetland-filmed-find-out-more-about-the-detective-dramas-location-11364250160835#

Edgar.
Some of the recent storylines in Shetland are set in Glasgow. Many of the scenes are filmed in Lerwick on Shetland. I know it's not all filmed there, but enough of it is for it to be authentic.
Jacqui

@Edgar

It’s “movie magic.”

If done properly viewers will believe they are seeing one place when they are seeing another. It’s done because film and television productions are not cheap endeavors to undertake.

Was 1939’s Gunga Din filmed in India?

No, it was filmed in California’s Alabama Foothills near Mt Whitney. So were countless Westerns. Even some Star Treks.

For the American TV series Criminal Minds did the FBI Profilers really fly to all different part of the US to solve the crimes?

No, nearly everything was shot in downtown Los Angeles and elsewhere in LA County. Places such as Acton, Long Beach, Monrovia, Santa Clarita, Leo Carillo State Beach, Pasadena and Thousand Oaks. Occasionally the crew ventured a bit farther into Ventura County.

And no the original CSI wasn’t filmed in Las Vegas. Nor was CSI Miami. Besides some establishing shots
both were filmed in LA County.

Location, location, location.

Hooray for Hollywood.

Another television series to look out for is The Tales of Para Handy starring Gregor Fisher and the excellent Rikki Fulton. I received the DVD's for a recent birthday not having watched the series since the 1990's when it was first aired. Still very enjoyable for me though slightly dated.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0155450/

Yes, I'm aware that film shoots often fake locations. That said, some make reasonable attempts tempered by artistic license to use locations represented by the story line. The "Edie" movie I cited above was filmed on Suilven (Sula Bheinn) and surrounding locations.

With the power of Internet searches the locations of films and TV programs are a few clicks away. Often tourist information agencies use film locations to promote travel to their areas.

Soft Top, Hard Shoulder, a 1993 low-budget road movie that I enjoyed at a film festival but I think it never went much further. Written by and starring Peter Capaldi. Glad to have found it on YouTube So I can rewatch: https://youtu.be/OcRsoS5xFjg.

Thanks for mentioning I Know Where I’m Going!! Back around 1990, when the Sunday paper included the week’s TV guide which had a separate listing of all of the feature films on non-cable stations, my sister and I would see what films were on that week. The local PBS station had IKWIG and in the brief synopsis just said, “Possibly the most romantic movie ever made.” Neither Sis nor I had heard of it but decided to check it out, and we fell in love with it immediately. Wendy Hiller is amazing in it.

(Claudia, hee on the Criminal Minds reference! A Season One ep is set in the next town south of me in Chicagoland, and my first reaction to the park scene was, “Huh—I didn’t know Des Plaines, Illinois had palm trees in the park!”)

@Kathy and Edgar

My career in Film and TV Locations was nothing but framing out palm trees in my scouting photos.😛
You do it so the director can envision how to film a LA location to make it a believable substitute for NYC, Boston, Chicago, Texas, Iowa, etc..

Speaking of establishing shots, the movie "World War Z," with Brad Pitt and Mireille Enos, opens with an establishing shot looking north on Broad Street in Philadelphia, with City Hall at the top of the street. However, the scenes that follow immediately were filmed in central Glasgow. There's an aerial shot that shows what is obviously George Square.

Mike (Auchterless)

@Kathy (Chigagoland) - "I Know Where I'm Going" is available on DVD from Criterion, if you want to have your own copy. I don't think they ever released it on Blu-ray.

A great selection above , including some of my all-time favorites ( " I Know Where I'm Going " , " Local Hero " , are just two . ) Here are two more , notably missing - " Tunes of Glory " ( 1960 ) starring Alec Guiness , John Mills , Dennis Price , Gordon Jackson and Kay Walsh . Two Colonels vie for the hearts and minds of the men in a post World War II Scottish regiment . This was , in part , filmed at Stirling Castle . Also , " The Illusionist " ( 2010 ) . This hand drawn , animated film tells the tale of a magician , down on his luck , and a naive young girl from Iona , who follows him to Edinburgh , believing in his talents . Based on a story by the inimitable French filmmaker , Jacques Tati , this film will bring a lump in your throat , and a few tears to your eyes .

Needless to say , due to the virus , my upcoming trip to England and Scotland for this Autumn , will now have to wait for a vaccine .

Just recalled another favorite - " Confessions of a Trainspotter " ( 1980 ) . Michael Palin , of Monty Python fame , fulfills a childhood ambition to travel by rail from London to Skye . Pure joy ! - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mYi1qLUAJJI

Did I just miss The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie? Also, I saw Venus Peter at film festival in Chicago decades ago. I had assumed it took place on Orkney, but it was just filmed there! The story is set in Fife! It doesn’t look like anyone ever made films of any of George MacKay Brown’s works which is surprising.

I enjoyed the Shetlands series. I do recognize some parts. My 2nd great grandfather came from Shetland with his mom and sister and settled in Michigan. I visited in 2010 for Hamerfarin celebration. We found and met relatives still living there. I am hoping to go back next June 2021 if all is allowed.

Kim

Here's another film for the list. I saw in on a Sky channel recently as part of the Christmas in July season and recognised lots of places featured in it.

http://reeloneent.com/programming/christmas-in-the-highlands/#:~:text=SHOT%20IN%20SCOTLAND.,The%20Heart%20of%20the%20Highlands.

Just above , I had posted a film that has been a favorite of mine since I was fourteen ( now seventy four ) . Someone has linked it on Youtube , albeit with Spanish subtitles . I don't find the subtitles distracting , so here is the link - " Tunes of Glory " ( 1960 ) a beautiful film set in Scotland - https://youtu.be/x0Dhu7B1gJc

Hi, Steven,

You won't find a better acted movie anywhere! Sir Alec and Sir John were at the top of their form in Tunes of Glory. The movie is available from Criterion on both DVD and Blu-ray, with optional English subtitles, and loads of extras.

Ironically, Sir John Mills won his only "Oscar" a few years later, in a different movie, for "Best Supporting Actor." If I recall correctly, it was (and is) the only time that particular award has been given for a non-speaking role.

Mike (Auchterless)

Mike , it was an oddity in the casting that Mills and Guinness were cast in roles generally opposite to those they usually played . Mills was usually stereotypically cast in blue collar , working class parts , and Guinness , in more seemingly aristocratic roles ( " Great Expectations " , their previous match , was a great example) . Mills' role as Willy Mossop , in " Hobson's Choice " as an illiterate shoemaker , is priceless . The choice of Guiness as Jock Sinclair , and Mills , as Barrow , was a stroke of creative genius . Having visited Stirling twice , nostalgia always strikes me when I watch the film . A dram or two adds the finishing touch . Good to hear from you , my best , Steve

By the way , what was the film that Sir John won the award ?

From WikiPedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mills

For his role as the village idiot in Ryan's Daughter (1970) — a
complete departure from his usual style – Mills won a Best Supporting
Actor Oscar.

I.p. , Thank you !

I was just reminded that in addition to Restless Natives being a great movie, with some of the best Scottish scenery ever in a motion picture, it also had a dynamite soundtrack from Big Country, featuring the much underappreciated Stuart Adamson on guitar.

The CD of the soundtrack also included some of the dialogue from the movie:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2KT2XULTco

"Ah hold up buses!"

Mike (Auchterless)