Download - Scottish Screen

made in scotland
made in scotland
“From the outset, we had no doubts that Stone of
Destiny needed to be shot in Scotland for accuracy,
and we found plenty of recognisable talent in
Scotland as well.”- Rob Merilees
Robert Carlyle
Stone of Destiny
l-r Billy Boyd, Charlie Cox, Ciaron Kelly
Helmed by experienced director Charles
Martin Smith, an actor familiar for
many roles but fondly remembered
by Scots for his performance opposite
Sean Connery in the The Untouchables,
The Stone of Destiny stars Stardust’s
Charlie Cox, along with Billy Boyd and
Robert Carlyle. The film deals with a
famous and still controversial moment
in Scottish history: the theft by a group
of Scottish students of the Stone of
Scone, an artefact of significant cultural
importance.
“It was Charles Martin Smith who
initially wrote a spec script and brought
it to me and asked if I would produce
it; I loved the story and thought ‘Why
hasn’t someone done this movie
already?’” says Merilees. “From the
outset, we had no doubts that Stone of
Destiny needed to be shot in Scotland
for accuracy, and we found plenty of
recognisable talent in Scotland as well.”
The theft of the Stone took place
in 1950, presenting a considerable
challenge in terms of creating period
detail. “We felt the story, although
based in the fifties, is timeless – so
we tried not to push the era down
audiences throats. We shot mainly in
and around Glasgow - there were so
many great locations in the city that
it was very easy to create the period
- and we used lots of costumes and
period cars to capture the feeling of
the time. Some areas of Glasgow
were useful in doubling up for London,
and parts of Paisley Abbey stood in
for parts of Westminster Abbey,” says
Merilees. “We were also able to shoot
in Westminster Abbey in London, where
we were told that this was the first
feature to be allowed to shoot there in
half a century.”
With an international audience in
mind, Merilees had to consider one
of the vexed questions of Scottish
identity: would the world be able to
understand the accents? As it turns
out, accent wasn’t an issue. “We loved
Trainspotting - that’s one brilliant
film. However, this film is made for a
family audience and we need viewers
to understand every word, all around
the world, so we steered away from the
harder accent and went for the naturally
soft and lyrical sound that many Scots
have. I hope the Scots will forgive us
for any creative licence we’ve taken
here.”
“This is a story about four college kids
who set out to wake people up in their
country, when it was under threat of
losing its distinct culture. They hatch
and successfully carry out a plan to
bring the Stone of Destiny back to
Scotland as rallying a symbol for
nationalism,” says Merilees, although
he’s keen to emphasise that the film is
no polemic. “I think the film should be
seen as entertainment with a message:
the message that you can affect change
in the world by non violent means.
Infinity has been focusing on joint
ventures with studios and international
co-productions to widen the scope of
talent and tell universally appealing
stories. This one just happens to be set
in Scotland.”
www.infinityfeatures.net
www.mobfilm.com
Kate Mara & Charlie Cox
[ Scottish Screen National Lottery Funded: Content Production ]