Introduction
Arguably, it was as late as the 1970s and 80s that a new era of film was ushered into Scotland, with the introduction of filmmakers such as Bill Forsyth who respectfully brought a contemporary style of filmmaking with Gregory’s Girl (1981) which depicted an optimistic and quirky side of Scotland, rarely seen. Despite that, prominent Scottish actor, writer and director; Peter Mullan, has said that it was English filmmakers: Ken Loach and Danny Boyle who ‘let Scotland out of the cage’ in terms of filmmaking. Despite not being indigenous to Scotland, it is certainly respected that these two directors have helped bring Scotland into the limelight with internationals successes such as Trainspotting (Boyle, 1996) and My Name is Joe (Loach, 1998). This essay will explore the switch in Scottish film, ranging from the stereotypical highlander in films like Brigadoon, to the miserabilism depicted in Trainspotting. Firstly, it will distinguish the three main tropes that have often been used to portray Scotland in film; Tartanry, Kailyard and Clydesideism. However, it will mainly discuss Peter Mullan’s chosen words and how within reason they actually are, taking a major focus to the films that both directors have set in Scotland.
When looking at the representation of Scotland in film, one could argue that the discourses of Tartanry – “the excessive use of tartan and other Scottish imagery to produce a distorted sentimental view of Scotland and its history" (Collinsdictionary.com, n.d.), Kailyard – “emphasises the small town or largely rural aspects of Scotland, depicting those who live in these areas as 'simple folk' of the land” (Benyahia, Gaffney and White, 2011: 296) and Clydesideism – “associated with gritty realism and urban working class” (Munroe, 2000: 9), are those that portray the stereotypical Scotland. These discourses are well described as the “three types of representation that rise above all others in Scottish film and suggest not only some regional variance within Scotland, but also a sense of internal conflict between the past and present, the rural and the urban” (Benyahia, Gaffney and White, 2011: 296). Although these images linked to Scotland are easily recognisable, they are not all-inclusive of what life is in fact like for its commonplace burgher. It is also worth noting the repetitive structures that Scottish representation has often fallen into in the past. In ‘Scotch Reels’ (McArthur, 1982), it is discussed that portrayals of Scottishness seem to follow a set of establishing images that allow international audiences to view these said images as ‘tradable symbolic goods’, something they can easily associate with Scotland.
Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave (1994) was the first of his films to be set in Scotland, and also his first major success, with the film going on to win the best film award at the BAFTAs. The film, which is set in Edinburgh, is a dark comedy centred around three friends who find their newly arrived flatmate dead along with a suitcase of money. It is interesting that in the opening voiceover, it is drawn attention to that “this could’ve been any city, they’re all the same” highlighting its deviation from the traditional Scottish setting. It could be argued that due to this being a commercial success, it was a catalyst for the Scottish film industry to garner some attention. That attention led to perhaps Scotland’s most famous film, as it provided the production team “with the opportunity to make the even more commercially successful, and confronting, Trainspotting” (Mayer, 2003: 341). Unlike Shallow Grave which didn’t focus too much on its location, and could have been any city; Trainspotting made use of the location of Edinburgh, deciding to emphasise on the drug culture that it had. It employs realism within the overall narrative, albeit only majorly focussing on a specific subculture within Scotland. In ways, it had to be set in Scotland due to the Scottish accent sounding so aggressive to some, most especially in working class Scots (O'Donnell and Todd, 1991). In terms of letting Scotland out of the cage, Trainspotting went onto be the highest grossing film of that year and the fourth highest grossing British film at the time (Lash et al, 2007: 167), so arguably Mullan already has an element of truth to his statement.
Ken Loach
Conclusion
This essay finds that it is unquestionable the impact that Danny Boyle and Ken Loach have had on the Scottish film industry. However, while Mullan claims that they were the ones who let Scotland out of the cage, this essay would strongly argue that their mainstream status only provided a key to the cage on an international front. Whilst nationally, Scottish directors had already let Scotland out of the cage with directors like Bill Forsyth and Bill Douglas, as they were the amongst the first to show Scotland in a modern light but they just didn’t have the