In the world of fashion, two’s a coincidence, three’s a trend. Right now, 2011 sees a decided trend of Scottish directors making films in Scotland.
On Friday, Glaswegian Kevin Macdonald’s The Eagle, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell, is released. McDonald, famous for The Last King of Scotland, stayed in Scotland this time, in Wester Ross and at Loch Lomond.
David MacKenzie, who is well versed in shooting in Scotland after Hallam Foe with (him again) Jamie Bell, has two films on the big screen in the next 12 months. Perfect Sense sees him reunited with his Young Adam star Ewan McGregor as an irascible Scottish chef (hmm) alongside Casino Royale’s Eva Green.
You Instead was shot over four days at T in the Park and is about two indie rockers handcuffed together at the festival. Which might have been awkward if they’d been stuck in Slam’s dance tent for a whole weekend without access to a bar.
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Peter Mullan’s Neds has already won awards this year and Scottish directors are doing well beyond northern Britain. Once he'd made two movies with Josh Hartnett, Bellshill’s Paul McGuigan went back to TV, but it’s big, event TV – two episodes of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ Sherlock last year, ITV’s biggest contemporary drama of this year, Monroe, with James Nesbitt, and Damage Control, the new political drama from Shonda Rhimes, the one-woman force of nature behind Gray’s Anatomy. Lynne Ramsay’s adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s book We Need To Talk About Kevin is due soon. Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood is doing the music, Nairn resident Tilda Swinton stars. As for films made in Scotland from girders, Harry Potter has visited Glenfinnan railway viaduct, and Gladiator director Sir Ridley Scott has been reported as making plans to head to Inverness and Fort William in August to make the prequel to Alien, Prometheus, with Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron. While it might be over-egging our pudding to say that the Scottish film industry is in rude health, we’ve come a long way from the days in 1995 when Scotland’s favourite son was portrayed by an Aussie in a movie written by an American and shot in Ireland.Donate to us: support independent, intelligent, in-depth Scottish journalism from just 3p a day
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