Skip to content

Dear Ann,

When is my virtual sojourn in Scotland going to end, you ask? Not soon, I hope.

When I recommended I Know Where I’m Going, reader Tess left this comment:

For more glorious Scottish scenery, check out “Local Hero,” a lovely (fictional) movie about the response by a Scottish village when it is coveted by an American oil giant – no one reacts as you might expect. The cast includes a young & endearing Peter Capaldi, and a modern version of a mermaid who becomes the object of his awkward affection, but they aren’t the main characters. I think there is a brief shot of someone knitting (the innkeeper’s beautiful wife maybe?) but you’d have to look for it. I loved this movie so much that I hunted down all the locations where it was shot the first time I went to Scotland. (The long crescent-shaped beach near Morar really is as beautiful as it appears in the movie and looks across the water at the Cuillin of Skye.)

Over the years, I keep hearing about Local Hero, so I decided it was time, and spent a literal Sunday afternoon watching it and knitting.

Tess knows what she is talking about. Local Hero is a wonderful update to the Scotland of I Know Where I’m Going, complete with 1980s ceilidh. There are plenty of very nice knits, including lovely Fair Isle vests that get a lot of screen time. (I missed the scene where the innkeeper’s missus was knitting; maybe I was counting stitches.)

Oh! And Burt Lancaster!

Note: At the beginning of the film, there is some bigoted business talk, as ugly as it is casual. There are no women characters other than servants and objects of desire. (1983, y’all. No reason for nostalgia.)

Local Hero is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Love,

Kay

P.S. Mark Knopfler wrote and performed the music for Local Hero. This information sent me down a YouTube slip-‘n’-slide that included this live performance of the Going Home theme at Wembley in London in 1985. There are worse ways to spend an evening than listening to Dire Straits performances.

29 Comments

  • Local Hero has long been one of my favorites. Canny Scott!

  • You can also download the movie on Hoopla with your local library card.

  • At least once a year, we watch Local Hero. This is my most favourite movie of all time. From my first viewing, I have been entranced.The story line, the scenery, the gentle humour (whose baby is it?!), the music . . . it draws me in every time I watch it.

  • A favorite of mine. It is charming and sweet. The cast is wonderful. Enjoy!

  • I love this movie too. You should check out Gregory’s Girl as well.

    • And watch out for the penguin!

    • And watch That Sinking Feeling. Bill Forsyth was a great director.

      • And Housekeeping, based on a novel by Marliynne Robinson (Gilead) – not as funny but very beautiful and with great acting.

      • Don’t forget Comfort and Joy!

        • I did forget it. When I was writing the post all I could think of was the ice cream truck movie. It didn’t seem specific enough. Thanks

  • “We have an injured rabbit also!” My favorite movie of all time. Enjoy y’all!!

  • I absolutely loved “Local Hero” when it first came out and have seen it a few times more. I have just ordered “I Know Where I Am Going” from my library and also started on the first Lillian Beckwith book “The Hills Is Lonely” and hope to read the whole seven book series this summer and dream about being in Scotland………

  • One of the best “feel good” movies ever!

  • Oh! Every time I watch Local Hero, at the end when the phone is ringing, I want to get up, walk out of the house, and Go To Scotland.

  • Love Local Hero. Definitely time for a rewatch! Thanks. another good lazy Sunday Scottish watch is the Hamish MacBeth series available on Acorn I think. Reminds me a bit of Northern Exposure but instead of odd charming characters in Alaska, they’re in a small Highland village. although some episodes are darker.

  • Haven’t seen it since the 80s, but never forgot it or it’s sweetness. Off to watch it on Prime. Thanks for the reminder!

  • Love Local Hero! Get the soundtrack.

    • I also likes when he asks Gordon(?) to trade lives. Charming.

  • I am old enough to remember this film when it was in the repertory cinema we had in Hamilton, Ontario in the 1980’s. I saw it again not too long ago and it really stood the test of time. Cannot remember if there are any shots of folk wearing nice fair isle pullovers or cardies though to connect it to the knitting community.

  • My husband’s all time favorite movie. We watch it now and then on VHS.

  • So glad you enjoyed the movie! We got to Morar late on a midsummer evening and the sky was glowing with light. A woman with a Border Collie was at one end of the beach and a man appeared at the other end, maybe a quarter mile away, walking. The dog caught sight of him and raced across the space between them, then greeted him with leaping, twirling joy. All in the mid-June gloaming. Scotland.

  • My dear husband wrote his Master’s thesis about this wonderful film. We were tickled when we were able to taste a scotch that is over 100 years old….”Old enough to be out on its own!”

  • “Local Hero” Love this movie, soundtrack, scenery – everything! When renting videos was the thing to do, I would rent only this movie, over and over lol Thanks for the memory!

  • I was lucky enough to first see this movie in Edinburgh, while studying abroad in Britain back in the 80s. And then saw Denis Lawson perform in a musical in the West End. I was a very starry eyed college student that summer.

  • Fun trivia: Denis Lawson, who plays the innkeeper, played Wedge Antilles in Star Wars Chs. 4-6, and is Ewan McGregor’s uncle.

  • I saw “Local Hero” when it was first released. I was captivated by the scenery and quirky characters. I immediately went out and bought the Mark Knopfler sound track to which I used to listen all the time. Someday, I would like to visit both Scotland and the Shetland Islands on a sightseeing and fiber tour!

  • Funnily enough the NYT today has an article on St. Kilda, mentioning both The Edge of the World and I Know Where I’m Going. Lovely photos as well.
    A Veritable No Man’s Land Off the Coast of Scotland

  • One of my all time favorite movies!

  • Yeah, I might just have always had the soundtrack to Local Hero. Good to hear it’s streaming on Amazon, going to queue it up now!

Come Shop With Us

My Cart0
There are no products in the cart!
Continue shopping