An interesting article in The Scotsman talks of the continuing trend to portray Scotland as a…
… as a country where drug addiction, poverty and alcoholism are rife.
Let me just correct that and say that I love Scotland and, apart from a few short moments in my life, I’ve not encountered the life portrayed in those movies, and that’s despite living for quite some time in Aberdeen, the setting of the upcoming movie Addict, directed by Andy Serkis.
A GRIM portrayal of drug addiction in 1970s Aberdeen is due to start filming on location next month.
Based on a best-selling novel, Addict is the real-life story of the author Stephen Smith’s experiences as he travelled across the UK, including his time spent in Aberdeen’s council estates.
Directed by Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy, the film is said to be darker than Trainspotting.
I have to say that Aberdeen is a lovely city, but like any city it has its bad areas, but it also has its good. I remember busking between 11pm and 3am on a Friday or Saturday night and never encountering any problems.
There are two contrasting views portrayed in the article. One from Stuart Cosgrove who is the Director of Nations and Regions at Channel 4, and that of the film critic Angus Wolfe Murray. Cosgrove says:
“There is hardly one film made in Scotland by a Scot that is not cast in some dreary, awful, urban, deprived social landscape.
“I think this is a failure of the imagination. This self-loathing, inward-looking obsession has damaged Scotland.”
Whereas Murray has the opposing view.
“I think if Scotland’s film industry becomes famous for gritty realism, I’d much rather have that than Brigadoon cartoons and Braveheart rubbish.
“Films like Gregory’s Girl and Local Hero were uniquely wonderful and it takes a special touch to be able to create light comedies that stick in your heart and can make you laugh.
“The problem is that you can’t recreate the formula. If you try to, then you end up churning out rubbish.”
Not entirely sure that I afgree that Brigadoon and Braveheart were rubbish, sure they portray the Scots in an inaccurate and sometimes slightly humiliating light, but both are good entertaining movies and have helped out with Scottish tourism no end.
I’m sure that this film could be made in any city in any country and still tell the same story, it’s not just about Scotland, it’s about drugs and the users, and that’s a common theme anywhere. What it is doing though is (hopefully) bringing a Scottish production to Scotland, and quite frankly Mr Murray, we need all of them we can get in our ailing corner of the industry.
It’s a sad sign when the Production of Burns, a movie of the great Scottish poet, continues to struggle to get some money and this drug movie seems to get the go ahead so easily.
