I was born in Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, you know what that means (this might tickle John and Doug) I am a true Highlander. I was born and raised in the Highlands of Scotland, by wolves. Okay, that last bit isn’t true, I’ve got a Mum and Dad, despite what John keeps calling me on IM.
However, there is a point to this story, it’s a little charming piece that I caught over at Cinematical and it makes me real happy because they mention my Birthplace.
Since 1975, the Hebrides islands off of Scotland have been without a movie theater. Anyone desperate to see, say, Transporter 2 or March of the Penguins had no choice but to go to Inverness.
That was the mention by the way. I was five then.
While that perhaps doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, when one realizes that Inverness is over 100 miles from the western Hebrides (50 by ferry + 60 by car), you begin to realize that seeing Brad Pitt might not be that important.
That said, however, residents of Stornoway (the town in which the new cinema is being built) haven’t been totally without Hollywood for the past 30 years. After the local disco stopped screening films, they began showing in the Stornoway Town Hall, a practice which has continued once a month for over 20 years. No matter what film is showing, most screenings are packed – over 1500 people crammed into the space to see Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and police were once brought in to subdue an unruly crowd eager to see The Perfect Storm
That’s fantastic, finally the UK’s lottery money doing something decent, rather than building real tennis courts, or upgrading the expensive seating in the most expensive Opera house in Britain. However will those days of cramming into the Town Hall be missed? Anyone from Stornoway to comment?
