Local Hero
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Template:Infobox Film Local Hero (1983) is a British comedy film starring Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert, Fulton Mackay and Denis Lawson, directed by Bill Forsyth. It was produced by David Puttnam.
The movie is set in the fictional fishing village of Ferness on the coast of Scotland. A young representative of an American oil company is sent to the village on a mission. The film features a notable ensemble of character parts, and the Scottish scenery is beautifully filmed.
The film's soundtrack, which outsold the film itself, was written by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, and is considered amongst his best work. This has led to the film becoming quite popular with fans of the band, and Knopfler has since performed the films main theme music, Going Home, as an encore at most of his concerts.
Local Hero was filmed in several locations around Scotland. Most of the village scenes were filmed in Pennan on the Aberdeenshire coast, and most of the beach scenes were filmed at Morar on the west coast.
Plot
'Mac' MacIntyre (Peter Riegert) is a typical 1980s hot-shot executive working for Knox Oil and Gas in Houston, Texas. He is firm in his belief that money can buy happiness and his lavish apartment is furnished with all the mod-cons.
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The eccentric chief of the company, Felix Happer (Burt Lancaster), sends MacIntyre to Scotland to acquire the village of Ferness to make way for a refinery, largely because his surname sounds Scottish. Mac (who is actually of Hungarian extraction) is a little apprehensive about his assignment, complaining to co-workers that he would much rather take care of business over the phone and telex machines.
Happer, an avid astronomy buff, wants to have his name on something; it bothers him that his father didn't change the company's name when he bought it - this manifests itself in Happer's search for a comet to discover and name. He tells Mac to watch the sky, especially around the constellation Virgo.
Upon arriving in Scotland, Mac begins a slow but profound transformation as he adapts to life in Ferness and gets to know the eccentric people who live there, most notably the owner of the hotel, Gordon Urquhart (Denis Lawson) and his wife, Stella (Jennifer Black).
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As the film progresses, Mac becomes more and more conflicted as he presses to close the deal that will spell the end of the quaint little village he has come to love. Ironically, the villagers are tired of the hard life they lead and are more than eager to sell, even feigning disinterest to try and induce a larger offer from Knox Oil & Gas.
The deal seems to be complete, when Gordon discovers that Ben Knox (Fulton Mackay), an old beachcomber who lives in a snug driftwood shack on the shore, actually owns the beach, through a grant from the Lord of the Isles to an ancestor. MacIntyre tries everything to entice Ben to sell, even offering enough money to buy any other beach in the world, but the old man won't budge. He is content with what he has.
Happer finally arrives on site, just in time to forestall a potentially nasty confrontation between the villagers and Ben. When Mac informs him of the snag in the proceedings, he decides to negotiate personally with Ben and in the process, discovers a kindred spirit. He opts to move the refinery offshore and set up an astronomical observatory instead. He instructs MacIntyre to go home to implement these changes. Mac's assistant in Scotland, fellow Knox employee Danny Oldsen (Peter Capaldi), brings up marine biologist Marina's (Jenny Seagrove) dream of an oceanographic research facility and suggests combining the two into something that could be named the 'Happer Institute'. Happer likes the idea.
MacIntyre returns to Houston, only to realise how empty his 'real' life is. The movie closes with a somber MacIntyre in his apartment in a final scene much lauded by fans.
Trivia
- The radio station on in Mac's car at the opening of the movie is Houston K-N-O-X.
- On the DVD release, during the scene of the meteor shower, MacIntyre exclaims "Holy Cow". However, the movement of his mouth is not suggestive of these words.
- Association Football club Newcastle United currently play the Local Hero theme tune when their players emerge on the pitch at the start of the game.