In this past week's "Album of the Week" rant, I referenced a film and its score that I had featured in previous rants. I suddenly felt the urge to revisit both as I had posted both exclusively to Facebook. So I decided to present both of them here. What follows is the film rant, originally written and posted on 10 August, 2020:
I apologize in advance. When looking back at the last few albums I've submitted, one would think I was stuck in 1983. Three of the last four entries in this series were from that year. And here's another one...
Two or three times a year, Barnes & Noble will have a special sale where all Criterion DVDs and Blu-ray discs are 50% off. For those not familiar with Criterion, they are a distribution company that releases special home video editions of what they deem to be important classic and contemporary films. The films are painstakingly remastered (and, in the case of older films, often restored with equal dedication) within an inch of their lives, making them slightly superior to regular editions of the same film. The discs frequently contain loads of special features, commentaries, interviews, radio adaptations, etc., and are marketed to serious film aficionados (also known as "geeks," "dorks," and "people like me"). The films in this series frequently tend to be of the foreign variety--lots of European films, the works of Akira Kurosawa, that kind of thing. In the last few years, I have noticed an uptick in American films being added to the collection--the silent classics of Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, the works of Wes Anderson and Terry Gilliam, and even highly regarded and well-loved films of the '80s like Tootsie, The Big Chill, Broadcast News, The Princess Bride, and The Breakfast Club.
Late last year, while perusing what was on sale, I discovered a recent addition to the collection, Bill Forsyth's 1983 film Local Hero, I had remembered selling the original DVD when I ran the music department many years earlier at the store in Bloomington. I had never seen the film, but while reading the back of the case, I decided to give it a try.
A couple of things sold me on it. First of all, it starred Peter Riegert, who most of us will remember as Boone in National Lampoon's Animal House. Over the years, I've seen some of his other work, most recently as Lillian Kaushtupper's rival Artie Goodman in Netflix's "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt." I also can't recommend the film Crossing Delancey enough.
What really sold me on the film, however, was that it was shot on location on the coast of Scotland (and, ok, Houston, Texas). I've always had a deep love of Scotland and all things Scottish--including bagpipe music, the poetry of Robert Burns, the song stylings of Donovan, whisky without an "e," and the TV series "Monarch of the Glen." Scotland is, without question, the most beautiful place I've ever seen in my life and I would love more than anything to return one day, if for no other reason my father requested his ashes be scattered in the North Sea (apparently, it was the most beautiful place he'd ever seen in his life too). But I digress (no real surprise there)...
For those not familiar with the film, Riegert plays MacIntyre ("Mac"), an employee of the Houston based Knox Oil and Gas company run by Felix Happer (the great Burt Lancaster), an eccentric who pays a man to verbally abuse him and is obsessed with astronomy. Mac is sent to a town on the north coast of Scotland to negotiate buying the entire area from the locals in order to build a new oil refinery. He is aided by Danny Oldsen (played by a very young Peter Capaldi), a company employee based in Aberdeen. They travel to the coast so Mac can negotiate with the town's legal representative Gordon Urquhart (played by Denis Lawson, or, as he's probably known in America, Wedge Antilles).
Needless to say, it doesn't take long for Mac to fall in love with the place along with Gordon's wife Stella (Jennifer Black). Danny also falls for Marina (Jenny Seagrove), a marine biologist who works for Knox and has a "magnificent pair of lungs," among other... rather interesting attributes.
Anyway, I watched the film and found myself completely entranced by it. In the subsequent months I've lost track of how many times I've marveled at the beauty of this movie. I can't believe I'd never seen it before. It's one of those films that is so visually stunning, that each frame could hang in an art gallery. I often say that I don't gush about a lot of things, but I've recently added this film to that list. The romantic in me likes to think Danny and Marina ended up together and are still together today.
One of the other things that catches one's attention is the film's soundtrack. Guitarist extraordinaire Mark Knopfler was already well established as the front man for the band Dire Straits. He was asked to write the score for the film--his first endeavour in that particular field of music. I often find myself taken with the music to the film as much as the film itself.
So this week, please enjoy Knopfler's score to the film, featuring Gerry Rafferty on "The Way It Always Starts."
Until next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember that you can't eat scenery.
Yours in peace, love, and rock and roll!
The Reverend Will the Thrill
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