Early Scottish cinema has typically fallen into the discourses of tartanry and kailyard, together constructing a persistent image of Scotland on screen which is still prominent today. Some of the films which have strongly utilised such discourses include Whisky Galore! (1949), The Maggie (1954) and Rockets Galore (1958) – to name but a few. The former of these is a classic comedy based on a real event which occurred during the war. As a ship laden with whiskey was wrecked near a small Scottish island, the islanders salvaged some of the goods for themselves. As author Robert Murphy states: “Whisky Galore has its share of eccentric characters, beautiful scenery, and Scottish dances” (Murphy, 2004: 183). Whisky Galore’s community also “operates on the level of allowing access only on total submission to its rules” (Williams, 2000: 165). This is in conjunction with the common stereotype that those in tight-knit Scottish communities are ruthless with regards to such things.
Such stereotypes are also present in Hollywood films of the same period, such as Bonnie Scotland (1935), Wee Willie Winkie (1937) and Brigadoon (1954) – again to name but a few. Brigadoon in particular utilises Scottish stereotypes to a sheer extreme. This is a musical about a mythical Scottish village, wherein two American tourists (Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas) stumble upon the community which only appears for one day in every hundred years. The notion of Scotland is highly romanticised in this musical as Tommy falls in love with a Scottish villager and abandons his pending marriage with his fiancé from New York for his true love. In 1953, the producer of the film – Arthur Freed – travelled to Scotland in order to find suitable locations to shoot. Ironically, upon returning to Hollywood he stated that he “went to Scotland but... could find nothing that looked like Scotland” (Hardy, 1990: 1). The set was eventually created in a Hollywood studio and featured American actors in tartan costume. With the use of such a stereotype among others such as whiskey drinking, Highland dancing (although the jig in question was actually of Irish origin), and the representation of Scottish people as simple folk living in a rural village completely unconnected to modern society, one would assert that the representation of Scotland and its citizens within this film is highly skewed. One would argue that the film portrays a vastly inaccurate and somewhat degrading representation of Scottish culture. This notion can be applied to aspects such as the extreme inaccuracy of the Scottish accents and the extent to which the constructed caricatures within the film have been exaggerated in such a way that depicts “Scottish Nationalists... as pitiable eccentrics” (McArthur, 2003: 108). On the other hand, author Duncan Petrie has argued that the “construction of Scotland as fantasy space... is epitomised” within the film, thus making it clear that Brigadoon merely provides a means of escapism for viewers (Petrie, 2000: 33). Indeed, in this sense one would argue that the fantasy musical genre of the film, coupled with the narrative plot being about a mythical village which comes to life for one day every century, together emphasise that the film is not in any way attempting to depict the ‘real Scotland’.
Nevertheless, Brigadoon – like the majority of Scottish films from its era – focuses on counterfeit aspects of Scottish culture which pertain to the typical discourses of kailyard and tartanry and have little regard for the realities of modern life in Scotland. However, there have been a handful of exceptions. The third identified discourse – clydesideism – represents “Glasgow as a tough, uncompromising , urban sprawl; deformed by the experiences of industrialization [sic], yet united by a sense of working-class community which is nonetheless rigorously controlled by codes of masculinity and femininity” (Stokes and Reading, 1999: 249). This type of film deals far more with the realities of modern Scottish life than both tartanry and kailyard. In 1937, the Films of Scotland Committee set out to produce a series of films which promoted the Scottish Nation for the 1938 Glasgow Empire Exhibition. One of these productions was a short documentary – The Face of Scotland (1938) – which covered a brief history of Scotland and illustrated picturesque scenery of the country. However, also utilised in this documentary are clips of industrial sites and shots of working class men going about their day-to-day business. At this point in time, “something like the real Scotland was beginning to edge its way onto the screen” (Hardy, 1990: 41). However, the British Council’s Film Committee refused the film’s admittance to the World Fair in New York due to its content consisting of images of working class citizens, which the committee deemed an inappropriate representation of Britain. From this standpoint, the existing restraints in terms of distribution of Scottish films and the representation of the ‘real Scotland’ on screen on an international level are highlighted.
It has been asserted that Bill Douglas was the first to challenge the typical discourses of Scottish cinema with the release of his autobiographical films – My Childhood (1972), My Ain Folk (1973) and My Way Home (1978). This trilogy follows a young boy - Jamie - developing from boyhood into adolescence within an environment of extreme deprivation in post-war Scotland. Douglas presents a picture of the brutal realities faced amid a harsh upbringing in an isolated and poverty-stricken village on the outskirts of Edinburgh, and paradoxically combines such themes associated with clydesideism with humour and warmth. Despite the boy’s brutal background, in the end he manages to triumph by means of fulfilling his artistic ambition. These films failed to fall under the established discourses within Scottish cinema, so much so that one of the few books on the subject at the time completely ignored their existence. The trilogy achieved significance in arthouse cinemas, though they were comparatively small-scale and critical acclaim did not come until much later.
One writer-director in particular who has received much critical acclaim for his work is Bill Forsyth. His low budget films That Sinking Feeling (1979) and Gregory’s Girl (1981) differentiated from other common Scottish films as they could not be categorised by the discourses of tartanry, kailyard and clydesideism. Such films proved to be major hits among the British as well as international audiences. Due to his level of success, his next film – Local Hero (1983) – received funding from Lord Puttnam’s Goldcrest productions. Such backing enabled Forsyth to increase production values and to have a Hollywood celebrity (Burt Lancaster) playing one of the leading roles within his film. This film features a small Scottish coastal town which is under threat of being torn down for the construction of a refinery by an American oil company. As author Sarah Benyahia states: the film is “not as clear cut as it may seem, as the representations are illusions, with the idyllic Scottish landscape being cut through by an RAF fighter on a training flight (a political issue of the time)... and the happy simple population seeing their own lives as desolute and in decay” (Benyahia et al, 2006: 291). In this sense, Forsyth utilises several ideas associated with the common discourses in many Scottish films mentioned previously, but cleverly plays around with some of the concepts regarding the representation of ‘Scottishness’. One would argue that this in particular sets it apart from previous Scottish films. As the film was made “at time of deepening social unrest in Britain (and Scotland in particular) as the right-wing agenda of Margaret Thatcher’s government saw rising unemployment and the destruction of traditional industries including the mines, shipyard, and fishing that had been central to Scottish life for several generations” (2006: 290), one would argue that this film encompassed a strong element of realism.
With the original quirky (and arguably absurd) nature which drives Forsyth’s narratives, one would argue that his works pioneered a sub-genre of Scottish comedy which was adopted by a small number of other films of the decade, such as ninian Dunnet’s Restless Natives (1985) and Charles gormley’s Heavenly Pursuits (1986). As Forsyth’s films were successful on an international level, his version of a contemporary Scotland was broadly accepted as representational with regards to Scottish identity. As such, it is arguable that his works established the concept of a plausible, native Scottish film industry. However, it was not until the 90s that the idea really came to life.
Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave (1994) is a dark comedy about three young friends in Edinburgh who hold interviews to find a new flatmate. Shortly afterwards, they discover the corpse of their new flatmate in his room, also containing a large amount of drugs and a suitcase full of money. They decide to dispose of his body and keep the money. The film then ensues with the unexpected and brutal consequences of such an act, including death, betrayal and paranoia in its purest form. Shallow Grave was “Britain’s most commercial film of 1995 and this success provided... [the production team] with the opportunity to make the even more commercially successful, and confronting, Trainspotting (1996),” (Mayer, 2003: 341). Such themes deviate from any stereotypical notion of Scotland, which is emphasised by the voiceover at the beginning of the film stating “this could have been any city”. Boyle gave leading roles to actors Ewan McGregor, Kerry Fox and Christopher Eccleston, marking the beginnings of a career for McGregor. In these regards, one would argue that elements of the film industry in Scotland were beginning to thrive at this point.
The success of Shallow Grave lead to the production of Trainspotting (1996), which utilises realism in its narrative as it is based around drug culture in Edinburgh. Trainspotting proved to be the “highest grossing British film of 1996... [and] fourth highest UK grossing British film at that point in time... Worldwide box office was [also a whopping] $72.2 million” (Lash et al, 2007: 167). Such a huge success on an international standard was a huge step for the Scottish film industry. In this sense one would indeed agree with Peter Mullan’s statement that Danny Boyle ‘let Scotland out of the cage’ in terms of film-making. However, one would argue that although this film deviates from the discourses of tartanry, kailyard and clydesideism in cinema, it still portrays a negative view of Scottish people. The main character, Renton, is depressive and uncaring and extremely selfish. Sick Boy is a sociopath who has no moral compass, is a megalomaniac, sexual deviant as well as a drug addict. Begbies is a violent psychopath who abuses women, homosexuals and black people. He is also an alcoholic who engages in violent crime. While Spud is portrayed to have a good heart deep down, he is an extremely dim-witted heroin addict, who is happy to be on the dole and not work, although he is a good friend to his true companions. In this respect, one would assert that Boyle goes against the grain of what Edinburgh as a city is perceived to be like, arguably transferring certain elements usually associated with Glasgow to Scotland’s capital, with regard to the representation of Scottish males. In this sense, Boyle is going against the grain in his film-making and setting his work apart from the common discourses, but is still relying heavily on certain stereotypes associated with clydesideism. In particular, young people are still portrayed as violent degenerates.
This is then placed in stark contrast with the magnificence of the highland landcscape that dwarfs the four principal characters when they decide to leave the city and take a walk in the hills. Tommy adopts a traditional viewpoint when he asks ‘Doesn’t it make you proud to be Scottish?’. Renton’s rebuke which defines all that is wrong with being Scottish further emphasizes the changing face of urban Scotland. This is echoed in Orphans, where the urban landscape similarly defines the characters and separates them both from a traditional pastoral setting and from Clydesideism, with the material decay of the city reflecting their moral and emotional crises.
Ken Loach has produced a variety of Scottish films which also fail to be directly categorised by such discourses as tartanry, kailyard and clydesideism. Producing films which explore the concepts of social issues such as unemployment, drug and alcohol addiction and loan sharks, he is a key player in the production of contemporary Scottish film. With films such as Riff Raff (1991), Carla’s Song (1996) and My Name is Joe (1998), Loach reflects the severe social issues faced by those living in exile. More recently, his film Sweet Sixteen (2002), can be partially categorised by the discourse of clydesideism, but it is also established for the realism in which it depicts. Sweet Sixteen explores the severe face of drug addiction, in his particular style which differs greatly (that is without such wry humour) from that of Boyle’s Trainspotting. Throughout his narrative, Loach utilises juxtaposition in that he combines such fierce violence with heart-warming kindness. This can be observed when the main character buys his mother a caravan overlooking the river Clyde.
Since such productions, Scotland has witnessed the release of a number of films which also adhere to such aspects of social-realism, including Rat catcher (1999), and Peter Mullan’s Orphans (1997), 16 Years of Alcohol (2004) and NEDS (2010)- to name but a few. The latter of these is set in Glasgow in the 70s and features a cast of non-established actors. Interestingly, much of the film was not scripted and the cast improvised during a number of scenes, emphasising Mullan’s attempts to depict realism on screen.
However, Scotland in recent years has also witnessed the production of films such as Braveheart (1995) Rob Roy (1996) and Made of Honor (2008), which adhere to the Scottish stereotypes associated with kailyard and, to a vast extent- tartanry. Highly successful Braveheart and Made of Honor are set in the highlands, but feature American actors, thus one would assert that these films fail to move on from the established discourses in terms of film-making.
The 1990s have witnessed the emergence of a very distinct Scottish cinema which has a high degree of prominence in Scotland today. Funds available for film productions have been made available within Scotland rather than Britain as a whole by a small number of organisations. As a result, a higher number of feature films have been able to be produced within Scotland. However, the degree to which this phenomenon is solely Scottish is somewhat distorted, as other sources of funding for Scottish films are still of crucial importance for the development of the industry. For example, Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, Carla’s Song, My Name is Joe, and Orphans all received investment from Channel 4. In this sense, it has been argued that “the new Scottish cinema is a distince and meaningful entity, but as yet its status should be understood in terms of a devolved British cinema rather than full independence”. (Hjort, 2000 : 166). However, in a different light it has been asserted that “Scottish cinema has emerged with a degree of independence from the British industry and a confidence and identity of its own” (Petrie, 2000: 214).
Through the findings of this essay it is clear that Peter’s Mullan’s belief that directors Danny Boyle and Ken Loach ‘let Scotland out of the cage’ in terms of film-making is highly viable. Films by both these directors in question have revitalised the Scottish film industry to a vast extent, hosting new found talents for the nation and instigating opportunities for funding for those working in the film industry in Scotland. Film-makers have followed “a path through the myths to reality” (Hardy, 1996: 39) and we as viewers have witnessed the transition from films such as Brigadoon, which depicted a completely false representation of Scotland and the identity of the nation, to the production of films such as NEDS which portrays social-realism in its purest form. Scotland has indeed been ‘let out of the cage’ by Boyle and Loach, although I would assert that Bill Forsth was the player who provided the key for that cage, without which it is inconceivable where Scotland would be in terms of film-making. A new wave of Scottish cinema which differs so distinctly from the discourses of tartanry, kailyard and clydesideism has been sparked, yet it is clear that Scotland still has a long way to go if it is to be fully set apart from British national cinema and escape from the dominance of Hollywood.
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