Comment posted £7 million public money for Brave film – and a map that takes Argyll and the Isles out of Scotland by newsroom.
I hope you’re right and that the box office tells a success story. Nothing is more subjective than responses to art and entertainment. Another part of the fun is hearing other people’s reasons for their own responses.
Regardless of any other category a creative piece can be placed in, the big trip is whether it is so good you forget about everything except enjoying or being held by whatever it is.
In Brave, I found Merida – the feisty redheaded princess voiced by Kelly MacDonald, genuinely compelling. The other characters and the plot were so inconsistent I kept losing contact with the thread I responded to.
While the creative arts is a major area of expertise of mine – and expertise can get in the way – I can be as playful as anyone, if the work transports me.
Whether it’s comedy, music theatre, dance, visual arts, installation art or panto – success is about the ability to transport.
With the Brave trailers, I stayed where I was, eyes wide open.
But maybe the full film will be different. I’ll certainly see it. And if its impact is different, I’ll say so up front and right away – with pleasure.
Lynda
Recent comments by newsroom
- SNP meeting on Monday may be testing time for mega-coalition proposal
We’re not going to do a ’20 questions’ routine but, to let local politicians off the hook, it’s not any of them.
And we’re now taking a vow of silence. - First Minister’s choice not to condemn mob behaviour proves Farage point
Criticising behaviour – like Nimbyism [a worthy target], should not necessarily require tying it to a party or a group, although if there is good evidence why it belongs there, there is every reason to relate the two.
When you say: ‘Only in a very small number of occasions would I condone taking protest to the point of physical intimidation and I reserve that to some of the most significant ‘upheavals’ in modern times (examples being the fight against apartheid and the civil rights movement in the US) – even then there would be a line I, personally, couldn’t step over.’ – this is wholly understandable but using violence to protest against it is contradictory. I can never get playwright John Arden’s line out my head on this one: ‘You can’t cure the pox by further whoring.’
Civil disobedience is a very attractive and effective expression of disaffection but people are quite resistant to considering it.
Lynda - Arctic Convoy navies celebrated at Loch Ewe as surviving veterans receive Arctic Star medal
Email Jacky Brookes of the Russian Arctic Convoy Museum in Wester Ross: info@russianarcticconvoymuseum.co.uk (Russian Arctic Convoy Museum)
She will be glad to hear from you and of your father.
If you go to this webpage: http://www.veterans-uk.info/arctic_star_index.htm
- you will find an Application Form for the Arctic Star on it.
Alternatively, you can phone: 08457 800 900 and take it from there.
You will be able to get a posthumous medal for your father for his Arctic Convoy service – and although, painfully, he will never have known of it or seen it, he earned it and the medal will be very important to your family. - First Minister’s choice not to condemn mob behaviour proves Farage point
We have people in Community Councils in Argyll who are on the record as not wanting ‘people of low incomes’ in their area. And those will be people of a variety of political persuasions. The socialist NIMBY is not a rare bird.
It is unsafe to give representational status to the fringe adherents of any cause – and that is why the cause itself – any cause – must be clear about what it finds acceptable and what it does not.
The need for the formal, official representative of a country to be clear on matters like this is even greater – and it sets the bar.
How would Mr Salmond react to the same treatment the mob offered Mr Farage in Edinburgh?
It was sudden and unexpected.
It began with an invasion of the pub he was in.
It was intimidating – the mob crowded tight in, creating a real pressure.
The shouting and the abuse was literally ‘in his face’.
There was no way through nor any offered.
It would be surprising if the First Minister were not to feel equally shaken by such an experience – and very surprising if he had effectively condoned it as gleefully afterwards.
Personally, I’m not afraid of much – but the pressure of shouting bodies, the level of unreason, the aggression – with no signals that this might not turn to physical aggression… I wouldn’t have run but I would have been worried for my safety and I would have had no certainty as to the outcome.
The police clearly had reason to take a quite extraordinary series of measures to protect Mr Farage.
One of these was locking him in a pub for his own safety.
That meant that they were uncertain of their ability to protect him against a violence they, who were present – clearly felt was a potential development.
I feel – on good evidence – that Tony Blair did more damage than anyone to the political life of this country, to its expectation of honesty in those who govern, to its essential democracy and to its security – and that he has blood on his hands: of untold thousands of innocent Iraqis, of Dr David Kelly, of those who died in London in the bombings of 7th July 2005. I feel the most profound contempt for him.[And Nigel Farage has nothing of this level of gravity on his record.]
But I would act to protect Blair were he to be the butt of anything like this – because I do not wish to be implicated either in what he has done or in any primitive lynch mob response to it.
The best punishment for the attention-seeking and egotistical Blair is to pay him no attention. He is not an homme serieux.
The best response to UKIP and MR Farage, if you are opposed to their politics, is not to vote for them.
Lynda - Walsh to lead all but Lib Dems, Conservatives and George Freeman
No – not speculation – otherwise we would have said so.
But this is not a done deal.
It has to go for approval to an SNP meeting tomorrow [Monday].
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I bet there are no wind turbines in it either!
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Newsroom: You have definitely been on the grouchy pills of late: perhaps it is the heat?
You may have a point about the map but as most Americans have little idea of the geography of their own country can we expect much from them with regard to ours?
I have seen the trailers for the film and I liked it. It will be a great, feel-good, animated film for all the family that will do well at the box office (which is what it is designed to be rather than a piece of great art destined immediately to be seen only at high art venues and straight to DVD – We have Peter Mullan to do that sort of thing for us)
I think Visit Scotland have taken an imaginative punt here and it will be interesting to see how it pans out. If nothing else, it will give us lots of amusement trying to spot which bits of Scotland are represented in the film.
For Lowry: In the clips I have seen there are indeed no wind turbines and I don’t know if they based any of the scenery on areas where there are turbines visible but I think I saw a stylistic Kilchurn Castle with no pylons in the picture either.
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I hope you’re right and that the box office tells a success story. Nothing is more subjective than responses to art and entertainment. Another part of the fun is hearing other people’s reasons for their own responses.
Regardless of any other category a creative piece can be placed in, the big trip is whether it is so good you forget about everything except enjoying or being held by whatever it is.
In Brave, I found Merida – the feisty redheaded princess voiced by Kelly MacDonald, genuinely compelling. The other characters and the plot were so inconsistent I kept losing contact with the thread I responded to.
While the creative arts is a major area of expertise of mine – and expertise can get in the way – I can be as playful as anyone, if the work transports me.
Whether it’s comedy, music theatre, dance, visual arts, installation art or panto – success is about the ability to transport.
With the Brave trailers, I stayed where I was, eyes wide open.
But maybe the full film will be different. I’ll certainly see it. And if its impact is different, I’ll say so up front and right away – with pleasure.
Lynda
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Concerning the map: it’s not even an easy straight-ish line across. King James (VI and I) will be turning in his grave; at least he didn’t try to move the boundary between his “North Britain” and “South Britain”.
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For goodness sake – this is the world according to Disney we are talking about here. Fairy flippin princesses and talking animals that spontaneously burst into song and dance numbers.
Americans know nothing about geography anyway, unless its a country they plan to
invadeunleash democracy on, so yer all getting yer knickers twisted over nothing.£7 million invested? Well at least we know where they’ve spent it instead of a wee bit here and there which ultimately leads to nothing.
If it does bring more tourists, then great. I don’t give a hoot how accurate their map is.
What concerns me more is the current trend of slamming movies that have had something to do with Disney. If this movie is nothing less than spectacular, it will sink without trace at the mercy of critics desperate for their headlines and go the way of John Carter. I sincerely hope for all concerned this proves not to be the case, but having seen the trailers, I am not confident.
Incidentally, I liked John Carter
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It never got past the SNP censors with script such as “are you prepared to pay the price your freedom will cost”. Was it a gaffe with the map? It’s a fairy story so I’d not be surprised if the border fitted the plot.
I think your point is well made. What is wrong with Scotland as she is rather than this fantasy (as a means of selling Scotland)?
For the Scottish Government’s Tourism experts to pour scorn over Trump’s knowledge of tourism and then splash £7m on this, which isn’t quite what one would have in mind to attract visitors to Scotland, is odd.
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What film has ever portrayed Scotland accurately and what exactly were you expecting from Disney?
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It’s a PIXAR film! Is it right or wrong to use public (and is VisitScotland’s money public?) to promote it, I don’t know.
But you can expect excellent animation, a real story, and a sudden uptick in interest in Scotland, just as Finding Nemo almost did for the clownfish.
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Actually, given that the ancestors of the present Duke, the Campbells of Inveraray/Argyll, not only fought on the side of the English (and freely massacred any ‘ rebellious Scots’) they also regarded themselves as part of England – and thus in historical (and PIXAR) terms the map is probably pretty accurate.
Do they still ban Campbells and tinkers from yon pub in Glencoe?
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I understand the tinkers are allowed in
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If we are getting pernickety here, Disney owns Pixar, its their animation branch and one wee look at the movie’s website and its clear which name comes first:
http://www.disney.co.uk/brave/
And again, this is Hollywood’s version of Scotland. They still think that Gene Kelly is wandering the hills here singing “Roamin in the Gloamin”.
Campbells are barred from pubs all over Scotland, you need to be more specific!!!
Guess what I am? lol
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Has Salmond got the replacement for the British Board of Film Classification sorted out? We should be told.
Is this film a touchy-feely Braveheart?
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Greetings from Adelaide, South Australia!
Just to let you know that we are having a Champagne Premiere of Brave here on 21 June and we are all looking forward to seeing it.
Here’s tae Scotland –
Rosemary
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Crazy – I googled it – it’s the The Clachaig Inn.
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Had a wee look at their website. Looks like a nice wee cosy place. Perhaps I shall wear a disguise if I visit
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The Clachaig Inn had a great sign outside afew weeks ago during the panic over the oil tanker drivers possibly going on strike. It read: “Beer shortage predicted. Please panic buy”.
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A great pub and lots of fun when I was last there. I once spent the evening in it with the Kurgan from Highlander. Nice, soft spoken, gentle bloke actually and almost twice my height;-) The film was historically bizarre as it was placed in a very vague century and place, but used authentic weapons and dress.
The same was true of Braveheart which was mostly filmed in Ireland, opened with shots of mountains Ayrshire doesn’t have, and created a romantic interest with a princess who was just ten when Wallace was murdered. The original script was rescued somewhat by the input of the Scottish actors who refused to tolerate a dialogue that could only have been rooted in an American diner. The original version was further subverted by a bunch of guys from Glasgow who had a passion for face paint and baring their bums.
I do think the least visit scotland could have done is phoned to point out the error and wonder how the artist managed to get the shape right without copying the million accurate maps that abound on the internet. I don’t however think it’s useful to waste time correcting the film industry. There will no doubt be a reason why “poor little Scotland” was a good starting point and no amount of money would swerve them from their “creative” aims.
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I once (a long time ago) spent a winter’s evening in the Clachaig Inn with a young lady who asked for ice in her whisky – long silence, serious faux pas.
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Oh deary me, if this is the best you can do newsroom then it’s a sad day for journalisits across the world. Having a pop at VisitScotland for a map which is produced by Disney for a Disney tour of Scotland is laughable, why would someone in VisitScotland sign off a disney project? Another scoop for you to run with Mel Gibson isn’t from Stirling at all he’s….wait for it.. an Australian,
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I think that any opportunity to promote Scotland to identified target audiences is a great idea, although Visit Scotland has missed the boat yet again. The film, whilst family viewing, is largely aimed at children. Perhaps with foresight Visit Scotland would enter into a clear contract that offers real benefits, but the spendng of £7 million isnt the key factor, the problem is that there has been no support schedule, no additional value to this package.
Machrihanish Air Force base and numerous other areas are ‘desperate’ for investment and opportunity, this would have been the ideal opportunity to capitalise on Disneys investment in the Scottish family film but creating a visitor centre / theme park. Even reducing investment releasing £3million to create a rural visitor attraction would have had a substantial impact on creating new opportunity and something long lasting, we have to remember now that films, music and digital media and the consumer relationships with these last a lifetime, once again i cant help but think that Scotland has been removed of opportunity once again in what i imagine would have been a poor ROI, we could have probably made two films to better market Scotland for the same money.
Lastly, OMG @ Eurovision, with Susan Boyle one of the most loved artists at present, why, oh why, oh why didnt the UK use her and a decent song?? Shes not my cup of tea, but certainly has a huge following throughout the world.
We only get one chance to make appropriate and successful decisions, i cant help think that more and more decisions are made without due care, due passion or due consideration, can someone please write something positive that we can all agree on!
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re: Eurovision
Do we REALLY want to win? That means we need to host the blimin thing the following year and it costs a fortune to put it on. Thats why Ireland keep sending Jedward.
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Id’ never thought of it like that, im going to put forward the Chuckle Brothers for us next year then, I sadly quite enjoyed Eurovision this year, Graham Nortons cutting remarks makes it bearable.
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