Submitted by
Neil Murray
St Kilda on film
From: 'Scotland the Movie' by David Bruce (Polygon 1996)
The island group of St Kilda, furthest west of the Hebrides, would be fascinating
enough on account of its remoteness, its outstanding scenery and its natural
history, but given the drama of its human history and particularly its evacuation
in August 1930, it is in a league of its own. St Kilda under human habitation
was recorded on film several times. As early as 1908, Oliver Pike made
St Kilda: Its People and Birds for the Williamson Kinematograph Company.
In 1917 (or possibly earlier), Pathe produced The Island of St Kilda
.
The best known film of St Kilda while still inhabited was made in 1923 by
Topical Productions (Paul Robello and Bobbie Mann) for John McCallum and
Company who operated steam services to the Western Isles. St Kilda -
Britain's Loneliest Isle [Now available on the BFI DVD] was essentially a tourist film. The remarkable
details of the way of life, including bird catching on the cliffs, is partly
compromised by the attitudes displayed towards the inhabitants by the smartly
dressed tourists, and by the film itself. A joke about how busy the village
street is compared to Sauchiehall Street (quick shot of trams) is no worse
than heavy-handed, but the portrayal of the islanders as objects of curiosity
is on a par with the most patronising footage of 'primitive' cultures. Pleasure
is expressed that 'they never saw a movie camera before' (which was certainly
not the case) and that 'the natives have a sweet tooth', as bon-bons are
distributed.
In 1925, Ronald Jay, of Jay's Screen Service, made A Cruise to St Kilda
and the Western Isles He was probably the last professional film-maker
to observe St Kilda as a living community before its terminal decline. Among
the many amateurs who found their way to the islands was one Frank Lowe
who shot a ten minute film in 1929.
The evacuation of St Kilda was voluntary, in the sense that the islanders
had requested it, but their circumstances really left little option. Disease
and emigration had left the population below the viable minimum for self-sustenance.
The manner of the removal of the people from St Kilda, however, was not
to the credit of those concerned. Indeed The Scottish Office, who were generally
criticised for their handling of the whole affair, tried to cloak the operation
in secrecy and prohibited any photographic or film record being made. In
1979, however, footage turned up that had been shot in the days immediately
before the evacuation by John P Ritchie, an ornithologist who had been visiting
the islands in August 1930. This unique material, showing preparations for
the islanders' removal, had been kept secret for almost fifty years.
Since 1930, factual film coverage of St Kilda has remained largely the province
of the naturalists. In 1967, Christopher Mylne, in collaboration with the
National Trust for Scotland (the permanent owners) and Films of Scotland,
produced a memorable study of the wildlife and the remaining traces of habitation
but for the full strength of the story it fell to fiction film to recreate
the realities in a way that documentary could not.
Michael Powell, who some modern critics would argue was the best film director
Britain ever produced
[only some? :) ], was fascinated by the St Kilda story from
the time he heard about it in 1931. At that time he had scarcely embarked
on his career but with admirable determination he was able, in 1936, to
realise his ambition to make a film about the island. The Edge of the
World (1937) could not, unfortunately, be made on the island itself.
The other dramatised account of the last days of St Kilda had also to be
made at some distance from the island group. Bill Bryden's Ill Fares
the Land (1983) was shot on the mainland at Applecross and was less
geographically faithful than Powell's version but more accurate in other
ways.
This raises the vexed question about how important it is that a movie dealing
with historical events should be shot in the actual places where the events
took place. In the case of St Kilda, the topography and weather were essential
elements in the story. The physical context was clearly of great significance.
The same might be said for some other subjects but not many. That is probably
just as well given that the modern appearance of a large number of our key
historical sites (including several of the great battlefields) makes them
quite unsuitable as locations for film realisation of what took place there.
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