THE new Paul Ferris biopic The Wee Man certainly holds its own as yet another slice of Glasgow criminal life, the narrative being driven along nicely by the central character's unswerving determination to drive kitchen knives into every unprotected part of the human anatomy.
But the impact of the screen violence forces the question: can Glasgow not produce a love film? Will our cinemas ever offer more than Neds, or films featuring reforming neds such as The Angel's Share? Do film makers not consider we, as a nation would love our own boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-finds-girl trope?
Can't Glaswegians cry, except when the dug is discovered to have digested the winning bookies' line? Can't intimacy take place outside Barlinnie's D Wing? Does hand-holding always have to be a result of a joining with metal cuffs? Does every story have to have A Sense of Freedom sensibility – and be set in corporation-built dampness?
Seems so. We don't make films set in nice leafy suburbs because we don't do middle class. Our inferiority complex won't allow us to see past the remnants of Red Clydeside. We're too macho, too defensive – too Scottish – to be able to collate our real feelings. To make a Four Weddings would be our film-life funeral. As a result, our writers only want to write about crime.
Scots film-making therefore is reduced to two strands; shortbread-tin nice, such as Whisky Galore, or Trainspotting, that is, drugs galore. Yes, we're great at black comedy, wonderful at gangsters and stabbings and beatings (even in River City) but we can't even aspire to emotions. We need to be in the gutter looking up at the stars.
And it's a shame, 'cos Martin Compston would make a great romantic lead.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article