Local Hero
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Local Hero |
| Original title | Local Hero |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1983 |
| length | 111 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Bill Forsyth |
| script | Bill Forsyth |
| production | David Puttnam |
| music | Mark Knopfler |
| camera | Chris Menges |
| cut | Michael Bradsell |
| occupation | |
| |
Local Hero is a 1983 comedy film directed by Scottish director Bill Forsyth .
action
MacIntyre, an employee of a Texan oil company, travels on behalf of his company Knox Oil to a Scottish village to buy it, including the bay in which it is located, to build a refinery site. The managers of the Knox group are also building on the company's historical ties to Scotland and the supposed Scottish roots of their negotiator. The company owner and die-hard hobby astronomer Felix Happer shows little interest in the expansion plans of his management. He is being treated by an eccentric psychotherapist who wants to strengthen Happers self-confidence through selected provocations and insults, and before his departure he instructs MacIntyre in detail to look out for a hitherto undiscovered comet , which could possibly be named.
After his arrival in Scotland, a long drive through the misty highlands and accompanied by his Scottish colleague and linguist Oldsen, MacIntyre finally meets the supposedly unsuspecting villagers. However, they are already well informed about the purpose of his trip and only want to sell their hometown at an exorbitantly high price. The negotiations that the hotelier, pub owner and auditor in one person , Gordon Urquhart, took on for all the villagers soon became absurd. Due to the necessary telephone calls with CEO Happer, the only telephone booth in the village developed into a communication center.
Enchanted by the charm of nature and the warm way of life of the villagers, MacIntyre and Oldsen, who had their eye on the marine biologist Marina, increasingly neglect their business obligations over time. Eventually they find out that the stretch of beach needed to build the refinery port is owned by the old hermit Ben Knox, who however vehemently refuses to sell it.
Happer, more interested in MacIntyre's astronomical observations of the Aurora Borealis than in the progress of the business, ends up traveling to the scene himself. After Happer found out the name of the hermit from MacIntyre and believed he was a descendant of the founder of his company, Knox Oil , he really wanted to get to know him. After a long, boozy night and conspiratorial one-to-one conversations between Happer and Knox, the refinery project is unceremoniously buried in favor of a marine research laboratory inspired by Marina. MacIntyre has done his duty and is being sent back to Texas.
In the meantime, back home - far from Scotland - he feels very alone and depressed, especially since he fell in love with Urquhart's wife during his business trip. The last camera shot shows the orphaned telephone booth in the village with the phone ringing.
Reviews
Prisma-Online describes the performance of Lancaster and Riegert as "brilliant". "In addition, the wonderful landscape of Scotland, congenially accompanied by Mark Knopfler's ( Dire Straits ) film music,does therest to turn the eco-comedy into a film event." For the lexicon of international film , Local Hero is a "poetic comedy that sparkles with self-irony with fascinating images that asks questions about the meaning and quality of life".
Awards
The film won the BAFTA Award for directing in 1984 . The seven nominations for the BAFTA Award included those for Chris Menges, Mark Knopfler, David Puttnam, Michael Bradsell, Burt Lancaster and Bill Forsyth (best original screenplay). In addition, Local Hero received Best Screenplay Awards from the New York Film Critics Circle in 1983 and the National Society of Film Critics in 1984, respectively. The British Film Institute voted Local Hero 37th Best British Films of All Time in 1999 .
background
The film was shot in Scotland ( Pennan , Arisaig and Morar ) and Houston . It was released in US cinemas on February 17, 1983 and in German cinemas on December 2, 1983.
Bill Forsyth, the director, said of the last camera take in an interview published much later that this scene only came about because the American financiers insisted on a slightly more "positive" ending. In order to avoid a cheesy ending, Forsyth then took material that had already been cut away, which was shown as a pan over the coastal town when MacIntyre arrived. At the end of the panning, the camera gets stuck on the phone booth. Exactly this part that was actually already in the trash is shown as the final scene.
Others
The play Going Home: Theme Of The Local Hero from the film soundtrack, played by Mark Knopfler , became the club anthem of the English football club Newcastle United .
Web links
- Local Hero in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Local Hero at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Film review on Prisma-Online
- ↑ Local Hero in the Lexicon of International Films
- ↑ Awards for Local Hero
- ↑ BBC - BFI Top 100 List
- ↑ Pennan
- ↑ Arisaig
- ↑ Morar
- ↑ Locations for Local Hero
- ↑ Start dates for Local Hero
- ↑ Interview with Bill Forsyth on a digitally revised DVD (UK version)