Local Hero
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| Local Hero | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Bill Forsyth |
| Produced by | David Puttnam |
| Written by | Bill Forsyth |
| Starring | Peter Riegert Denis Lawson Burt Lancaster |
| Music by | Mark Knopfler |
| Cinematography | Chris Menges |
| Editing by | Michael Bradsell |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. (U.S.A.) 20th Century Fox (U.K.) |
| Release date(s) | February 17, 1983 (U.S.A.) |
| Running time | 111 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Local Hero is a 1983 Scottish comedy film starring Peter Riegert, Denis Lawson and Burt Lancaster. It was directed by Bill Forsyth and produced by David Puttnam.[1]
The film is set in the fictional fishing village of Ferness on the coast of Scotland. A young representative of an American oil company is sent to the village on a mission. The film features a notable ensemble of character parts.
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[edit] Plot
"Mac" MacIntyre (Peter Riegert) is a typical 1980s hot-shot executive working for Knox Oil and Gas in Houston, Texas. His lavish apartment is furnished with all the latest modern gadgets.
The eccentric chief of the company, Felix Happer (Burt Lancaster), sends MacIntyre to Scotland to acquire the village of Ferness to make way for a refinery, largely because his surname sounds Scottish. Mac (who is actually of Hungarian extraction) is a little apprehensive about his assignment, complaining to co-workers that he would much rather take care of business over the phone and via telex machines.
Happer, an avid astronomy buff, wants to have his name on something; it bothers him that his father didn't change the company's name when he bought it — this manifests itself in Happer's search for a comet to discover and name. He tells Mac to watch the sky while visiting Scotland, especially around the constellation Virgo.
Upon arriving in Scotland, Mac teams up with local Knox representative Danny Oldsen (Peter Capaldi). During a visit to a Knox research facility, Mac and Danny learn the scope of the company's plans, which entail replacing Ferness with the refinery. There they meet (and admire) marine researcher Marina (Jenny Seagrove).
Mac ultimately spends several weeks in Ferness, gradually adapting to the slower-paced life and getting to know the eccentric residents, most notably the hotel owner and accountant, Gordon Urquhart (Denis Lawson) and his wife, Stella (Jennifer Black).
As time passes, Mac becomes more and more conflicted as he presses to close the deal that will spell the end of the quaint little village he has come to love. The villagers are tired of the hard life they lead and are more than eager to sell, even feigning indifference to induce a larger offer. Mac receives encouragement from an unlikely source: Victor (Christopher Rozycki), a capitalistic Russian fishing boat captain who periodically visits his friends in Ferness (and checks on his investment portfolio with Gordon).
Meanwhile, Danny befriends Marina, who is under the impression the company is planning to build a research centre at Ferness. During a date, he discovers that Marina, who seems more at home in the water than on land, has webbed toes.
As the deal nears completion, Gordon discovers that Ben Knox (Fulton Mackay), an old beachcomber who lives in a snug driftwood shack on the shore, actually owns the beach, through a grant from the Lord of the Isles to his ancestor. MacIntyre tries everything to entice Ben to sell, even offering enough money to buy any other beach in the world, but the old man refuses to budge. He is content with what he has.
Happer finally arrives on site, just in time to forestall a potentially nasty confrontation between some of the villagers and Ben; Happer mistakes the mob for a welcoming committee. When Mac informs him of the snag in the proceedings, he decides to negotiate personally with Ben and in the process, discovers a kindred spirit.
Happer opts to locate the refinery offshore and set up an astronomical observatory instead. He instructs MacIntyre to go home to implement the changes. Danny brings up Marina's dream of an oceanographic research facility and suggests combining the two into the "Happer Institute", an idea that Happer likes. Later, Danny finds Marina swimming offshore and tells her the good news.
The film closes with a sombre MacIntyre back home in his apartment as he pins photos of his stay in Ferness to his bulletin board; the film then cuts back to a shot of the phone booth in Ferness, as the telephone rings unanswered, to the music of Mark Knopfler's Going Home.
[edit] Cast
- Burt Lancaster as Felix Happer
- Peter Riegert as Mac
- Fulton Mackay as Ben Knox
- Denis Lawson as Gordon Urquhart
- Norman Chancer as Moritz
- Peter Capaldi as Oldsen
- Rikki Fulton as Geddes
- Alex Norton as Watt
- Jenny Seagrove as Marina
- Jennifer Black as Stella
- Christopher Rozycki as Victor
- Christopher Asante as Reverend Macpherson
- John M. Jackson as Cal
- Dan Ammerman as Donaldson
- Tam Dean Burn as Roddy
[edit] Critical reception
Critic Richard Skorman lauded the film, noting that, "Bill Forsyth's Local Hero spawned a series of imitations, creating a whole new genre of film -- the wacky Scottish comedy...Built on a mountain of metaphysics, Local Hero, demands a few leaps of faith that are a bit difficult to make. But the premise of a yuppie from Texas traveling to an isolated town in Scotland to make poor but savvy fisherman wealthy is hilarious in itself...Forsyth also superbly contrasts the warmth of Scotland's North Shore with the impersonalization of super-modern Houston...[and] cinematographer Menges captures the serenity of the expansive beach and the power of the ocean and the stars as effectively as any filmmaker in recent history."[2]
Film critic Roger Ebert also gave the film a positive review, commenting, "Here is a small film to treasure, a loving, funny, understated portrait of a small Scottish town and its encounter with a giant oil company...And what could have been a standard plot about conglomerates and ecology, etc., turns instead into a wicked study of human nature."[3]
Variety magazine film critic, Todd McCarthy, wrote, "After making the grade internationally with the sleeper hit, Gregory's Girl, Scottish writer-director Bill Forsyth has broken the sophomore sesh jinx the only way he could, by making an even better film...Given a larger canvas, director Forsyth has in no way attempted to overreach himself or the material, keeping things modest and intimate throughout, but displaying a very acute sense of comic insight."[4]
[edit] Music
The film's soundtrack, which outsold the film itself, was written by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, and is considered amongst his best work. This has led to the popularity of the film with fans of the band; Knopfler has since performed an arrangement of the main theme music ("Going Home") as an encore at many of his concerts.
[edit] Locations
Local Hero was filmed at several places around Scotland. Most of the village scenes were filmed in Pennan on the Aberdeenshire coast, most of the beach scenes at Morar on the west coast.[5]
[edit] Background
Forsyth slipped some sly references into the characters' names. The recurring theme of sea and sky is echoed in the names of the two principal women, Marina and Stella. Also, Ben shares his last name with Happer's oil company and the radio station MacIntyre listens to in his car at the opening of the film (KNOX).
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ Local Hero at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Skorman, Richard. Off-Hollywood Movies, film review of Local Hero, page 200. New York: Harmony Books, 1989. ISBN 0-517-56863-2.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun-Times, film review, April 15, 1983. Last accessed: January 11, 2008.
- ^ McCarthy, Todd. Variety magazine, film review, February 16, 1983. Last accessed: January 11, 2008.
- ^ Scotland: the Movie Location Guide web site. Last accessed: January 9, 2008.
[edit] External links
- Local Hero at the Internet Movie Database
- Local Hero at Allmovie
- Local Hero at Bill Forsyth web-site
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