Local Hero

Yes, the summary line has been used in an attempt to qualify this entry as upbeat and interesting. But it is true, I did purchase a modular couch unit because the hero in Local Hero has a scene where he reclines in a couch while on the phone (his is cream, mine, mindful of stains is blue). This little anecdote symbolises the effect this film has had on me. I first saw it at the impressionable age of 14, and have watched it pretty much on an annual basis ever since.

I don't know how, or why it has proved such an hypnotic film, maybe it is due to the fact that there is not a sordid event in sight, that every scene reamains soft and innocent, without becoming fantasy. It could all happen, to me, or you and it is totally unthreatening. Not a fist fight, mugging, or domestically violent vision to behold. The film is like a memorable weekend where you know you've experienced something special.

You have to set the right mood, this film is definately a red wine with candles film, not one of the beer and pizza variety.

In Local Hero, Scottish director Bill Forsyth allows us to see the environment not as something to possess or control but as a privilege granted to all. A young corporate executive for a Texas Oil Company, Mac MacIntyre (Peter Reigert), is sent to a small fishing village on the coast of Scotland to work out plans to buy a piece of coastal property that includes the entire town as a drilling site. The great Burt Lancaster plays Mac's boss, Felix Happer, a starry-eyed tycoon of Knox Gas and Oil who is more interested in the stars and getting rid of Moritz (Norman Chancer), his "abuse therapist" than his business. Strangely, he asks Mac to keep an eye on the constellation Virgo when he reaches Scotland to see if he can see a comet in its vicinity.

MacIntyre meets up with his Scottish partner Danny Oldsen (Peter Capaldi) and they rent a room at an inn run by the local accountant Gordon Urquhart (Denis Lawson) and his wife Stella (Jennifer Black). Eventually, Mac and Danny settle in and get to know the town, walking the beach, talking to the black pastor of the village church, and meeting the idiosyncratic villagers. Mac slowly and without any expectations develops an attachment to the town and its people while Danny falls for Marina (Jenny Seagrove), a marine biologist with webbed feet who dreams of building a laboratory for biological research.

When Urquhart agrees to act as the intermediary between MacIntyre and the locals in the negotiations, we are set up to expect the ruthless exploitation of country folk by the big city capitalists. Ironically however, it is the villagers who are captivated by the prospect of the money and more aggressive in its pursuit than Big Mac. The deal seems ready to be consummated when it is discovered that Old Ben (Fulton MacKay), who lives in a shack on the beach, actually owns six miles of beach property and does not want to sell. When the townspeople threaten to turn into an ugly mob, Happer arrives from Houston in his helicopter to add the final twist to a most unpredictable plot.

Local Hero creeps up on you slowly then delivers its payoff so convincingly that, by the end, you feel as if you have a lifelong relationship with the characters. Mac's transformation from being a corporate sycophant to a caring individual who experiences a sense of belonging, perhaps for the first time, is one of the great pleasures of the film and reminded me of a similar transformation in Kiarostami's The Wind Will Carry Us. Supported by a wonderful score by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and beautifully photographed by Chris Menges, the film captivates with its offbeat humor and charm and reminds us of what it means to be human without resorting to sentimentality. If technology is seen as an imminent threat to humans, Local Hero allows us to focus our attention upon that which is most threatened: respect for people's individuality, reverence for the land, the sea, and the sky -- and really good Scotch whiskey.

Oddly enough, from the comments thus far about the film, nobody, as in not a single viewer, has commented on the absolutely stunning performance by Peter Riegert. It is the best of right on low key performances of all time: if somebody told him that leprosy had just overtaken the island he might have batted one eyelash. Yet no matter how low the key it is never off key. And yes, yes, it has a lot of other things going for it, but nothing like his performance. Somehow the director got the right guy for the job, so much so, that it is impossible to conjure anybody in all Hollywood that could have done so well. Moreover, the movie moves about him so tightly, and he takes the load so effortlessly, it is almost not surprising that nobody has noticed just how good he is here. In fact were there even a smidgen of fireworks from him, this would just be another movie. Time is gonna treat this film very well, when ninety percent of most films are forgotten, this will continue to rise in the ranks of the remembered.

A big American petrochemical company contemplates the construction of a oil refinery in a Scottish isolated fishing village. A young executive (Peter Riegert) from the Texas is sent there and with the Scottish representative of the company tries to negotiate with the local authorities to buy the ground. But things don't go exactly as planned. Indeed, the two men are more and more seduced by the easy life that reigns in the village while the inhabitants are tempted by the company's initial plan in order to grow rich. Then, the manager of the firm (Burt Lancaster) arrives in the village to settle the question with surprising results.

Bill Forsyth made an ecological tale full of charm and sensibility. He enjoys describing with a discreet and subtle humor the daily life of this Scottish village which seems to be virtually cut off from the outside world. Like the main protagonist, relaxed way of life that reigns in this fishing village gradually overcomes us. But we can also understand Forsyth's work as an invitation to the pleasure of the senses. Indeed, Riegert enjoys the food he eats and the whisky he drinks; he is charmed by the beauty of the landscapes and what he finds by the seaside (his collection of shells) and especially the rare phenomenon of the northern lights. Ultimately, his stay will do him good since he'll fully become integrated with the inhabitants. There's a small detail that says a lot about it: Riegert will put in his cupboard his American suit to wear instead a sweater.

Bill Forsyth has also written the screenplay and the merits we ca attribute to it is to have avoided the traps the topic was tending: a rejection of Manicheism and the characters globally escape caricature. The character acted by Burt Lancaster is more passionated by astronomy than his firm and the power of money.

"Local Hero" is a breath of fresh air and just like Peter Riegert, we would like to prolong our stay in this Scottish fishing village far from the stress of modern life, far from the Hollywood imperialism.

In this cynical age of image counting for all and increasingly small minded audiences being baffled by anything approaching subtlety, this film represents a much needed haven for the more cerebral viewer. It's pitch perfect lampooning of the massive gulf between supposedly similar cultures is a joy to behold over and over.

That fact that not much really happens is, in fact the whole point. It is a modern comedy of manners, the humour being in how characters react to alien situations.

It is exactly the kind of film Ealing studios would have produced had they survived into the 80's, and as such is to be praised for trying to show how simply taking an off centre look at real life can inform and entertain more eloquently than those who shout their satire from the rooftops.