Based on the classic 1932 novel Sunset Song by the writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon widely regarded as
one of the most important Scottish novels of the 20th century a novel
rooted in the landscape of Aberdeenshire. It was the first part of a
trilogy A Scots Quair all of
which have been adapted for BBC TV. The central character of the trilogy is the
boyishly attractive Chris Guthrie who in this adaptation is brought wonderfully
to life by Agyness Deyn who you may remember had the lead role in 2013’s Electricity.
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| The hard slog just to stay above the poverty line. |
Set in the fictional estate of Kinraddie in The Mearns, Kincardineshire
at the start of the 20th century and taking in the Great War, Sunset
Song (2015) tackles the hardship of rural Scottish crofting life where
people toil the land just to stay above poverty level and how most woman had a
subservient role in society being at their husbands beck and call to keep
house, have sex and rear children. Family life in the Guthrie household is
dominated by her brutal father John (a chilling Peter Mullan) a religious bigot
who seems to get his enjoyment from taking the belt to his son Will (Jack
Greenlees) and bullying his wife Jean (Daniela Nardini). It’s the young and
intelligent Chris Guthrie who hopes for more from life - but tragic
circumstances intercede.
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| Will Chris exchange one type of servitude for another? |
Soon after directing The
House of Mirth (2000) Liverpool born master filmmaker Terence Davies along
with others planned an adaptation of Grassic Gibbon’s novel but because of
problems raising the necessary finance did not start production on the film
until 2014, Davies had first fallen in love with the story in 1971 when it was
shown on the BBC and starred EastEnders actress Vivian Heilbron as Chris. During this hiatus Davies made two films, the
first a documentary commissioned to mark Liverpool’s year as European City of
Culture and recalling Davies’s life growing up in Liverpool in the 1950’s and
60’s. Of Time and the City (2008)
used newsreel and documentary footage with a voice over from the director.
After this he adapted Terence Rattigan’s 1952 play of the same name The Deep Blue Sea (2011).
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| We must stop meeting like this! |
Although imbedded with typical Terence Davies trademarks and
the socialist heart found in his earlier work’s Distant Voice, Still Lives (1988) and to a slightly lesser extent
in The Long Day Closes (1992), which
both included snapshots of ‘real’ life family experiences, births, marriage and
death all blighted by a sadistic patriarch and of course the required sing
along, but it’s the slow pacing of Sunset
Song that blights the later part of the film. People familiar with the
great mans work will know that Davies characteristically does not rush his
direction allowing us to saviour his scripts but in this case it seems just a
wee bit too prolonged. But please don’t think this is bad movie, quite the contrary,
it’s an excellent film, beautifully shot and a worthy addition to the directors
oeuvre.
