The next two blogposts are about a uniquely British trait: whimsy. Local Hero directed by Bill Forsyth is one of the greatest British films of all time, and its pure whimsy. It’s also hilarious, beautiful and very human.
Bill Forsyth is a funny one, he’s basically given up making films now. I’d suggest he’s done enough, both this film and Gregory’s Girl are modern classics. I also have a soft spot for That Sinking Feeling and his rarely seen Breaking In. I’d also love to see Housekeeping and I finally can thanks to Amazon putting it on their video streaming service after it hadn’t been available for many years.
The plot? Well, a man from an American oil company is sent to a beautiful Scottish coastal village to buy it. He expects the locals to be resistant to selling out and losing their beautiful bay and sedate lifestyle. He gets the opposite as some of the locals are keen to cash in. Instead he falls in love with the bay, the lifestyle and the northern lights.
I guess we have to talk about the music by Mark Knopfler. Newcastle United walk out to the theme tune to this day, and I got married with it playing. It’s lovely.
Anyway, you need to see this film at least once – it’s one of those lovely films which you wish will never end. You’ll never forget it. The trailer is below…
So, 53 films to go…
Matthew Cooper has written for Emmerdale, Eastenders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs. He was winner of the first ever Lloyds Bank Channel Four Film Challenge and the Oscar Moore Screenplay Prize. His first short film starred a then unknown Ewan McGregor and was picked up by Channel Four when Matthew was 19 years old. He’s been a script writer for hire and filmmaker for hire for over 20 years.