Comfort and Joy.

At long last I’ve got my hands on a copy of Comfort and Joy (1984), for the uninitiated its Bill Forsyth’s 4^th film and the final film he made in Britain up until Gregory’s Two Girls in 1999. There were three other films made after 1984 when he followed David Puttnam to America where Puttnam became Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Columbia Pictures from 1986 to 1988 a move that did neither of them a lot of good!

Bill Paterson stars as Alan ‘Dicky’ Bird one of Glasgow’s top radio DJ’s. When the film opens he has a pretty good life, a grand apartment and a rather tasty girlfriend called Maddy. But it’s not until she leaves him unexpectedly he realises how much in love with her he is. Turning to his happily married doctor friend Colin (Patrick Malahide) he’s advised to forget Maddy and find himself someone new. One afternoon while sitting in Glasgow’s traffic he spots a Mr Bunny ice cream van and inside notices a very attractive young lady who he later finds out is called Charlotte (Clare Grogan). Following the van on its journey he witnesses a violent attack, he goes on to unearth a serious rivalry between two Italian ice cream families. Our reluctant hero sets out to end this conflict and hopefully win the admiration of Charlotte.

'Did you want a flake in this?"

I’ve already said quite a lot about Bill Forsyth when I blogged his first three films, namely they have considerable warmth and charm, an offbeat humour that is underlined by seriousness and manages to demonstrate realism because his stories are populated with ordinary people who live ordinary lives until circumstances intercede, Comfort and Joy is no different. The film received a well disserved BAFTA Nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Bill Forsyth and a Critics Award for Best cinematography for Chris Menges who had previously worked along side the director on Local Hero (1983) as well as working with other British directors including Ken Loach, Stephan Frears, Neil Jordan and Stephan Daldry.  As with Local Hero the soundtrack was especially written by Mark Knoffler and was subsequently released on a 12” vinyl 45, which is now pretty rare. Some of the other music in the film came from the1982 Dire Straights album Love over Gold. Maybe Comfort and Joy does not quite reach the dizzy heights of either Gregory’s Girl (1981) or Local Hero but I’m glad I tracked it down and it will sit proudly next to the other two films in my DVD collection. Indecently if you look carefully in the Mr Bunny garage scene your spot an old friend of the Robert Burns Centre Film Club: a certain Mr Robert Buchanan! 

Some people can be more persuasive than others when selling ice cream!

Local Hero.

That famous phone box.

On Friday 10^th February 2012 film expert Dr Jonathan Murray was at the Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre in Dumfries to introduce a rare big screen outing for the 1983 Scottish comedy-drama Local Hero. Originally from Dumfries, and one time assistant projectionist the Film Theatre, Dr Murray now lectures in Film and Visual Culture at Edinburgh College of Art where his primary research interests are Scottish culture and contemporary British cinema. He also has written regularly on the contemporary world of cinema and Scottish film culture, past and present, for a range of international publications   He has published many works on the subject of Scottish Cinema and his most recently published book is titled Discomfort and Joy: The Cinema of Bill Forsyth (Peter Lang, 2011). Dr Murray’s presentation informed his attentive audience that writer/director Bill Forsyth is the most important filmmaker that Scotland has to date produced. He went on to say that Forsyth was a vital figurehead for the tentative late-1970s/early-1980s emergence of an indigenous Scottish cinema. Any Scottish filmmaker has arguably, not matched the distinctive and subtle nature of his directorial style, one capable of making comedy and a profound melancholy coexist on the cinema screen, since. His presentation explored the key characteristics of Forsyth's writing and directing practice, and argued that the enduring significance of this filmmaker's work extends far beyond his native shores.

Peter Capaldi, Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert, Fulton Mackay and Christopher Rozycki. 

Tonight’s film is in the great tradition of Alexander Mackendrick’s Whiskey Galore (1949) and The Maggie (1954) and Powell and Pressburgers classic 1945 film I Know Where I’m Going. Local Hero has a very simple but endearing story line.  The Knox Corporation based in Texas wants to build an oil refinery in place of a picturesque Scottish fishing village, Ferness and its accompanying shoreline potentially turning the existing inhabitants into millionaires. They send over a young hotshot negotiator, Mac Macintyre (Peter Riegert) to purchase the required real estate, a type of man that would never put sentimentality before business, or would he? The film was a great deal better and funnier, than I remembered, a comedy sure enough, but heartfelt and sad.

The village of Pennan where the film was made.

With its great characters and clever screenplay Local Hero was the high point of Bill Forsyth's career of only eight films in twenty-three years. None of his subsequent films would achieve the same level of critical and popular acclaim, two unsuccessful films made in America, another film he was reputed to disown and finally Gregory’s Two Girls (1999). When I asked Jonathan Murray why he did not make more films he told me that Bill Forsyth was a shy man but had continued to write, perhaps one day someone will turn one of his manuscripts into a further film.  Colin Vaines spoke of Forsyth's unique style: a combination of offbeat humour, precise observation of character, considerable warmth and charm, and an underlying seriousness.[1]  Which really sums up Local Hero. Thank you RBCFT for an opportunity to re-evaluate this splendid movie.

Kermode discusses Local Hero with its director on its 25th Anniversary.   [2]

---

[1] Vaines, Colin, 'Interview with Bill Forsyth', Screen International, 12 March 1983, p. 16

[2] Thanks to Alec Barclay and YouTube.

Gregory’s Girl (1981)

Monday night saw actor Rab Buchanan return to the RBC Film Club following his visit in May when he introduced Bill Forsyth’s first feature film That Sinking Feeling (1980) this time he was there to introduce Forsyth’s second, and better known movie, the coming of age romantic comedy, Gregory’s Girl (1981). Where as That Sinking Feeling follows the misadventures of a group of bored, mainly unemployed, teenagers who one day hit upon the idea of robbing a warehouse containing hundreds of stainless steel sinks Gregory’s Girl is about the suffering involved in growing up. Shot mainly in Cumbernauld New Town the plot involves Gregory (John Gordon Sinclair) a gawky schoolboy who’s main concern in life is to earn the affection of the football teams new star striker Dorothy (Dee Hepburn) who has just replaced him in the first eleven with Gregory replacing his best mate Andy as goalkeeper, Andy was played by tonight’s guest of honour Rab Buchanan. Also involved in this high testosterone mix is Susan (Clare Grogan who at the time of the films release was in the 80’s pop band Altered Images) who actually fancies Gregory!

Rab Buchanan, a Glaswegian actor appeared in three films directed by Bill Forsyth, the two films I have already mentioned and Comfort and Joy (1984) Rab and the other young actors in Forsyth’s film came to the notice of the Scottish director via the former Glasgow Youth Theatre. Each of the young actors in tonight’s film had characters written for especially for them, which meant they were not playing out with their personal limits. Following the movie Rab took part in an entertaining question and answer session. He spoke about the tee shirt that Darren had presented to him at the previous meeting, also explained the meaning behind ‘the 12 tonnes of cornflakes per day on trucks going under the motorway footbridge’ scene telling us that this referred to his character in That Sinking Feeling who was always eating breakfast cereal. Rab told of the fun the young actors had working with the easy going Bill Forsyth and how they received a decent remuneration for their troubles. Explaining how the strong Scottish accents had to be dumbed down and revealing that if That Sinking Feeling had never have been made then the funding required for Gregory’s Girl would never have been available, already having made a plea for funding from the British Film Institute which had been turned down.

Following Robert Buchanan short film career he went on to work on TV and theatre until his son was born when he reverted to work backstage as a technician at the Tollbooth Theatre in Stirling. His legacy will always be tied up with Bill Forsyth and the two films shown at the RBC Film Club, both of which demonstrate Rab's comic genius and both reveal a certain charm for example the scene’s in Gregory’s Girl between Gregory and his sister Maddy, the horizontal dancing escapade and the kid in a penguin suit who waddles the school hallways for no apparent reason, but at the same time demonstrate a realism that involves ordinary people with normal lives who we’ve all probably met at one time or another. It’s a film that certainly stands the test of time with interesting and strong teen characters that are miles away from the normal youth stereotypes in Hollywood movies.

Thanks to Alex Barclay for the great photo's

That Sinking Feeling

The most memorable evenings spent at the RBCs Monday night film club are those where someone involved with the film are present to introduce and answer questions following its screening. Previously actor Ian McCulloch introduced Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) and when the horror film The Dead Outside (2008) was shown we had the director, the producer and the young star of the film Sandra Louise Douglas present.


Our latest guest was Rab Buchanan, the Glaswegian actor most famous for appearing in three films by director Bill Forsyth, Gregory’s Girl (1981) and Comfort and Joy (1984) and tonight’s film That Sinking Feeling (1980). This was Forsyth’s first feature film as a director. Set in a dilapidated looking Glasgow in 1978 this low budget comedy follows the misadventures of a group of bored, mainly unemployed, teenagers who one day hit upon the ides of robbing a warehouse containing hundreds of stainless steel sinks. The plan involves dressing up as girls to distract a security guard and a potion whose effects can induce endless sleep! Rab Buchanan, who plays the ‘criminal mastermind’ Ronnie, and the other young actors in the film came to the notice of the Scottish director via the former Glasgow Youth Theatre.

Following the movie Rab took part in an entertaining question and answer section with our very own Darren Conner. He told various amusing stories connected with the making of the film and the fun the young actors experienced working with Bill Forsyth. He then went on to explain how the complete project cost a little over £3000 which was mainly spent on Colin Tully’s film score commissioned especially for the film. It was revealed that if That Sinking Feeling had never have been made then the funding required for Gregory’s Girl would never have been available. In all, our guest spent 10 days working on the film with many of the scene’s that made the official release improvised by the cast. The 2009 DVD re-release of the movie has been described as outrageous because instead of using the original soundtrack it used the American re-dubbed version which used mainstream accents and a different musical soundtrack, changing the complete character of the film. Darren’s questions also covered the other two films Rab made with Forsyth both having a much improved budget, which allowed the actors to be paid.

Following Robert Buchanan short film career he went on to work on TV and theatre until his son was born when he reverted to work backstage as a technician at the Tolbooth Theatre in Stirling. His legacy will always be tied up with Bill Forsyth’s and these three films, all of which still have a certain charm and are not a difficult watch but at the same time demonstrate a realism that involves ordinary people with normal lives who we’ve all probably met at one time or another. Another landmark for the film club.

(Photo courtesy of Alec Barclay Film Maker)