Local Hero

In between viewing films nominated for Academy awards, I am sneaking in a few personal favorites and general feel-good or simply self-indulgent pieces here and there. So, when I couldn't sleep the other night, I loaded up Local Hero, a rare gem of a film by director Bill Forsyth (Gregory's Girl, Comfort & Joy). Local Hero has been a personal favorite from the first time I saw it when I was about 12 or 13 years old. Then I loved it because I had a crush on Peter Reigert and because it made Scotland seem like the most magical place on earth with the most beautiful coastline and the most fascinating night skies. I was also enamored of the red call box that played prominently in the film, and to this day I still yearn to have one in my home. I swear some day I will!

I have watched the film several times over the years, and each time I have grown to love it more because I have matured in my understanding of human nature and relationships, and that's what the movie us ultimately about. Burt Lancaster is an oil tycoon who sends Reigert, a 1980s emerging yuppie business exec, to Scotland to handle a transaction that involves convincing an entire village to sell their property in order for an oil refinery to be built there.

Of course, the villagers want to jump at the chance because life has been hard, but one wise old fisherman holds out, and thankfully so. Old Ben Knox teaches everyone what matters most in life and...ding, ding, ding - you guessed it! It ain't money.

There is also a fascinating subplot with a marine biologist named Marina (of course) who has webbed feet (what would a film about a Scottish or Irish coast be without some allusion to a mermaid?) and her role in the refinery plans, which she thought was going to be a research laboratory.

The sky and astronomy play big roles in the film too, and there is a character named Stella to help carry this theme along too. Burt Lancaster's character, Happer, is an astronomy buff, who is looking for a comet in the Virgo constellation, which can be seen perfectly from this particular wee Western Scottish beach village.

I won't spoil the ending in case you've never seen it, but it is a sweet, humble little movie that gives hope in the face of an ever present crushing capitalist marketplace. Beautifully scored by Mark Knopfler, Local Hero is an immensely satisfying, sweetly funny, slice of life film.