Everyone seems to miss the turning point in the movie...when Mac forgets his watch in the surf. The alarm being drowned in the rising tide is perfection
Thank you for explaining the inner workings of Local Hero... No bad guy. Just real people... Yep, love the final scene, and the music, and the russian family, and the rabbit, and the motorcycle, all of it. My favorite scene is where Mac and Gordon try to get the other to volunteer a value for the town. Neither one wanting to go first. Classic negotiating game. So much at stake and yet such a low key scene. It's just such a relaxing but thought provoking movie. Reminds me a lot of Northern Exposure.
This movie is truly brilliant, with a truly brilliant score by Knopfler. I have mentioned this movie many times when talking with others about favorite movies. The vast majority of people have never heard of it. It was my favorite movie of all time until displaced by The Princess Bride, also scored by Mark Knopfler.
I have always felt a strong connection to this film. Worked in downtown Houston at an oil company when this film came out. I recognize many of the landmarks and worked at the oil company portrayed as Knox oil. I was Mac, young up and comer but really didn’t know what was what. I finally got the chance to travel and meet other real people. When I returned home to Houston, I found myself in my nice comfortable house, putting up a picture of my new friends on the board putting my shells away wondering what my new friends were doing and wishing I could be there again. The lights are so bright you cannot see the stars. That was when I remembered Local Hero. Took a while to get a copy but it is a treasured addition to my library and a wonderful reminder of my youth.
great comment. I very much appreciate it. Also, I strongly recommended procuring a disc. Criterion put out a great bluray of this a couple years ago. Before that, it was very hard to find the DVD version. Since Criterions do go out of print and get expensive in the used-disc market, that's why I suggest getting the disc.
Something you’ll understand if you grew up during the Cold War but even Victor, the Russian boat captain, is subverting the stereotype of a Communist Russian. Victor is simply visiting the town to make money by selling his wares and the townspeople clearly love his visits. If anything this movie is a classic for turning every cliche on its head.
best movie - one of my favs - and your description of what makes it is excellent. I've seen it about 10 times, but never really been able to explain why I love it so much. You hit it on the head. Thank you!
I love this movie. I always feel better after watching it. There a so many great characters. The final scene of the ringing phone booth, and that amazing music rises, gets me every time. In 2012 we went to Scotland, and we had to make a long detour to go to Pennen which is the town where they filmed it. Gave me goosebumps.
Favorite movie of all time, in part because I escaped the cities of the Texas coast. But there's more to it than that. As an adult convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, I even took St. Brendan of Ireland as my patron. And the last shot? I have asked my family to have "Going Home" played at the fellowship dinner after my funeral.
Local Hero captures a magic that's hard to define, a gentle comedy yes, but much more. So happy you mentioned Mark Knopfler's wonderful soundtrack which complements the film beautifully.
I finally got around to watching this and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. One thing that caught me overall is the title, 'Local Hero', and the movie doesn't tell you explicitly what to think or even who the hero is. Is it Gordon the barkeep/de facto mayor who lives a charmed rural life, or Ben protecting the beach, or Peter who may make the town folks rich, but is having a change of heart, when Felix swoops in and decides he too shall fall in love with the place. In addition with several other characters and the townsfolk, it's basically everyone that is a hero in someway, in that it takes a village to make a special place, and in fact is the element of 'local' itself that is the hero - preserving what is unique and distinct and natural. ... The movie has a few other quirky elements and archetypes of sorts which could be analyzed, one of my favorites was Felix's odd office 'at the top' where he was perched like a god or a king, only to be tormented by his "therapist"/jester informing him of the horses-ass he had become. Peter also has his awakening, but his destiny is not yet ready, nor has he yet found his true 'beach', his paradise, but now he knows the meaning it can provide for him ... if he will only choose to make the changes to obtain it.
Spot on review Dr. Matthews. In addition to being one of my favorite movies for all the reasons you mentioned I saw it during a 2 year period in which I was living in Israel. That period was one of the most meaningful periods of my life and everytime I see the movie or hear Mark Knofler's incredible music it reconnects me to that time.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time, and yes, the final scene as Mac looks out over the Houston skyline still makes me cry decades and probably 20 viewings later. I do hope the musical adaptation survives the pandemic and is able to move from it’s opening in Edinburg to a staging at the Old Vic in London as was originally planned (music for the stage adaptation also composed by Mark Knopfler). Thanks for the warm and incisive review.
My all time favorite movie. Saw it 3 times in the theater when it came out and countless times since then. My wife and I flew to Edinburgh in April 2019 and saw the musical at the wonderful Lyceum theater. Very different from the movie in terms of the storyline (Stella and Gordon not so happy together, Ben's character very different from the movie, etc), but it was a special treat for a fan like me. 19 new songs, 2 or 3 that were memorable. Still, I always look for an excuse to go to Scotland and Local Hero opened up both Scotland and Mark Knopfler for me in 1983 when the movie came. I did a local Hero tour in 2009 and went to Pennan, Ben's beach next to Morar, and walked 6 miles from Morar to Arisaig - stunning coast and water that is crystal clear. Cheers and sorry if this was an overindulgent reply.
Easily in my top 5 movies of all time. I MUST see it at least twice a year. Going Home, the ending credit song by Knopfler is almost an unofficial new Scottish anthem....the mass pipe bands played it at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo that I went to....so inspiring!
Thank you for the excellent review of this exceptional film. It's been my all-time favorite since I saw it over 30 years ago and it is beautiful every single time. The music (of course!), the characters, the story, really everything is quite perfect
It is my favorite movie of all times. I've watched it many times and always notice something new each time. It is really funny in a subtle way and the story is totally unpredictable. It's a dream of mine to visit the town where it was filmed. I like every character in the film and think that it is so great they got Burt Lancaster to be in it. Could talk about this film forever. Thanks for the review.
Great review. I fell in love with this movie 40 years ago when it played in the movie theater I was working at in high school. Must’ve seen it 100 times and it’s never gotten old! I still play the soundtrack to this day, and now my 19 year old daughter has fallen in love with it too.
One of my fave movies. From the military jet wreaking the peace of the scenery to the beachcomber being rejected when he offers to sell his beach for a pound for every grain of sand he can hold in his hand. "You could have had a bargain there, I can only hold about 10000 grains of sand. Did you think it would be more than that?" And so much more.
@@LearningaboutMovies If you can find it, check out Letter to Brezhnev from about the same time. Another low budget British film where ordinary working class Brits on the edge of poverty (as most of the Local Hero villagers realistically are) encounter ordinary Soviet citizens. Different in some ways, similar in others, and a good one to watch in the context of this classic. Thank you for this excellent summary of my favourite film.
The music, the performances , the scenery, directing, and of course, the writing make this a great film. Saw it 30 years ago and many times since. In Scotland near Pennan stopped at a similar village deserted except for a sheep. - kept expecting a bike to go whizzing past . Loved it.
Local Hero has always felt like a live-action version of a Studio Ghibli film to me. The way the film comments on nature, capitalism, culture clash, while featuring subtle and humorous character interactions. I’d love to see Studio Ghibli remake this film, in the same tone of Only Yesterday.
I saw this film when it came out in Santa Monica CA at the old Aero Theater on Montana Ave in the summer of 83 ... on a Tuesday night...for a buck. My girlfriend and I were didn't know much going other than the cast looked good... boy were we surprised... I would say this film is probably the "best - low expectations/surprise film that's stood the test of time - ever" I've seen in my 61 years. It was fun watching this with my early 20s children several years ago and watching them fall in love with it as well.
This is my favorite disc release in The Criterion Collection. Great movie. I keep a list of movies which I describe as “Powell and Pressburger-esque” and Local Hero certainly makes the list. I strongly agree with your review here.
I remember walking along the road in London worth my then partner, back in the late 80s/early 90s, and bumped into the theatre impresario, Cameron Mackintosh, who my partner knew. I had the one and only star-struck moment of my life, as I gushed to Cameron's companion, "you were in Local Hero" to Christopher Asante, who played the vicar. (I know his real name was Gyearbuor, but he was credited as Christopher in the film). He only has a minor role so I was surprised at how thrilled I was to meet him, even for a few minutes.
Another random Cameron Mackintosh connection; he owns a house on the west coast of Scotland 13 miles (22km) as the crow flies from Camusdarach where the Local Hero beach scenes were filmed. Other locations nearby also appeared in the film.
Took my son at about 11years old to see this movie 1984 . As we’re leaving I told him that this will probably be one of the best movies he will ever see. I wasn’t kidding. It is for me hope it is for him
@@LearningaboutMovies Everything about it was great...except the crazy psychiatrist subplot, which did end with a good laugh though: "Shoot to kill". Burt Lancaster was outstanding, but everyone was good.
@@LearningaboutMovies You should look at some of the French films of Marcel Pagnol's books directed by Claude Berri and Yves Robert: My Father's Glory, La Chateau de ma Mere, and the masterpiece that is Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring.
You’re right about Local Hero. It’s so subtle in its greatness that if you’re not paying attention you might not even notice it. That’s for another great video.
A favourite of mine, or maybe it is my favourite. I first saw it as a young man after returning home from a long backpacking tour around the south Pacific. I have to watch it at least once a year. The end scene when Mac returns home to his condo and mundane everyday world just perfectly summed up my feelings of returning home after a life altering adventure. Also, some great lines..."I'll make a good Gordon, Gordon." "I, too, am not Scottish." "You can't eat sceeeeneryyy."
"Are there two Ls in dollar?" "Yes. And are there two Gs in bugger off?" "Which shampoo would you like? Dry, greasy or normal?" "Normal... Extra normal." "It was a clean break. Check the bones in the dish if you want." "Is that the yank in that thing?" "Aye. That's him away". "Ah bugger it. I meant to say cherio" And many many others.
I picked this movie from your letterbox list and I loved it. And I’ve watched it right after “The station agent”. Please make a list of movies like these which are very simple and yet fully engage you
I loved this movie so much i had to go to pennan to make a call in the phone box... It is a great film which is so simple yet so complicated at the same time... My all time favourite film...
I last watched this movie in the 1980’s and loved it. I just stumbled across it again while doing research for my physical media collection. This one just went on my “must own” list.
hello man, I just discovered your channel about a few minutes ago and I wanted to let you know how much I respect you, i'm a 15 year old boy who got big into movies about a year ago, and the fact that you mostly upload daily, despite lacking in views. Is something I respect a lot, and I will continue to forever support you.
@@LearningaboutMovies sorry for such a late reply but ill just list my top 10 1. Oldboy (2003) 2.seven samurai 3.Harakiri 4. memento 5.The good the bad and the ugly 6. Goodfellas 7. Adaptation 8. La haine 9.Synecdoche, New York 10. birdman
@@floodedfungus5680 You have great taste man, thumbs up! :) It's cool that you explore different kinds of movies, being open minded at a you age, cool to see. I'll give you two random tips, different kinds of movies: 1. The Lives of Others (2006) German movie about East-Germany's secret police at that time(80's) called Stasi, (Its on here on YT I think). Everything about this movie is on point, such a well made film. Drama/Thriller(maybe light thriller) 2. Whisper of the Heart (1995) uplifting/feel-good Japanese Anime movie.. Awesome :)
Brilliant film. I saw it first run in 1983 and still love it. Then it was unique and different and sort of quirky-sweet. So much going on in very subtle ways in this film. Who really IS the local hero, in the end? Who knows?
Great review! And I agree about it beeing a movie that make you feel great beeing alive. Just finished watching it now and it is a very special movie I think. Masterfully done in it's simplicity.
McIntyre: "I'll l have a 42 year old whiskey, Roddy! Roddy: "There's none of that tonight, Mr. Mac. McIntyre: "Okay. I"ll have four 8 year olds and a 10 year old!"
I am new to your channel. Throughly enjoyed your review. Did you ever review the wonderful Matter Of Life & Death renamed in the States as A Stairway To Heaven?
Hello Peter! Thanks for this. I did in fact do a video on that movie, which is under "A Matter of Life and Death" -- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VwkYIQp9lF0.html Enjoy!
One of the best..if not the best I've ever seen..ending is..incredible..I think..MAC..went back and has been living there happily for 30 years...married the punk girl..
Japan is also a wondrous place, and perhaps the spirit of this film is slightly akin to that of the coastal villages in Japan? thank you for your comment.
I think it's my favourite movie. Hard to be sure of course, but I think so. It is utterly charming, and has something to say about the human condition. Thanks for your comments!
