Edinburgh 1932

Only good things should come from this...

I can see THE CONVERSATION parallels or REAR WINDOW

How the surveillance control room symbolizes the big brain. The synapses. The transmissions. How we cope with emotion and trauma

RED ROAD (2006)

3 S&S votes, Critics

Andrea Arnold's stunning feature debut

A CCTV operator sees a man on a camera and becomes obsessed

Layers of mystery unfurl

Set in Glasgow. Red Road Flats

Shot in a raw Dogme 95 style

The rawness of emotion and pain run deep

Gonna hit a few of these films this month. From BFI:

SPOILER: There is a scene where a Father or Vicar uses a public urinal. Complete with urination sound effects. Hannay comes up behind him and puts his hand over the Father's mouth. Hannay steals the costume

As I said, this movie goes hard

THE THIRTY NINE STEPS (1978)

Set on eve of WWI

This 70s version stars Robert Powell as Hannay

Closer to the book? (Not sure. Never read)

Differs from previous films (No Mr. Memory 😞)

A bit more violent. More quirky. More disguises

Big Ben climax goes super hard!

Men. Why can't we look more like this?

Edward G. doesn't come in for 45 mins. The movie takes its time establishing this Third Reich cult in America. George Sanders as a Nazi . Perhaps all exaggerated. But still disturbing

CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY (1939)

Begins in a small Scottish village then to USA

German spies are in America. Trying to start a Third Reich

Edward G. on the trail

The film is quite open about the spy network. All the Nazi regalia

A warning. Propagandist. Fascinating

TOMMY'S HONOUR (2016)

#MoviesWithMom

We both like golf ⛳️

Decent par here

Early days of golf and pioneering Scottish champions Old Tom Morris and his son Young Tom

Won BAFTA Scotland Best Feature

Directed by Jason Connery. He knows a few things about fathers and sons...

There's nothing civil about war...

#CivilWarMovie

The beans can go

COMFORT AND JOY (1984)

Unassuming Bill Forsyth gem

Bill Paterson is a DJ, recently single. Gets involved in the Glasgow ice cream wars (which was a real thing)

Forsyth-ian human truths. Subtle. Absurd

Mark Knopfler score 🎶

Chris Menges beautifully lights this comedy

IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING (1932)

An early silent doc from Glaswegian filmmaker Jenny Gilbertson

We see the process of making wool clothes on a Scottish island. From shepherding the sheep...to the shearing...to treating and prepping the material

Fascinating stuff. To me anyway

Jenny Gilbertson

Any discussion of Scottish filmmaking should include Jenny Gilbertson

From early 1930s island crofting docs to 1970s Arctic expedition films...Gilbertson was a pioneer

#WomenMakeFilm
#Scotland

EYE OF THE NEEDLE (1981)

Donald Sutherland is a Nazi spy. Washes up on Storm Island, Scotland

Finally watched! Known about this film most of my life

Mystery. Romance. The Needle's knife!

Love the cinematography from Alan Hume. Has an old fashioned feel

Enjoyable thriller

Cheech and Chong enter the Criterion Collection before Tom Cruise. Seems egregious, yet karmically right somehow

#Criterion

Oh shit ya

BETTY (2020)

Animated short from Scottish animator Will Anderson (born in Dingwall 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿)

Cool and clever concept. The animator tries to make sense of his failed relationship. He narrates through his 'director's commentary'

Winner of a BAFTA Scotland

I haven't read the novel. But there are some delicious hard turns of screenplay turning points here