Why Restless Natives is The Best Film YOU'VE NEVER Seen | Scottish Cult Movies
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- Опубликовано: 8 апр 2023
- Why Restless Natives is The Best Film YOU'VE NEVER Seen
The story of Restless Natives follows the adventures of two Scottish youths from the Wester Hailes district of Edinburgh, played by Vincent Friell and Joe Mullaney, who, in rebellion to their drab lives in urban Scotland in the mid-1980s, become modern highwaymen. Donning masks of a clown and a wolf-man and riding a Suzuki GP 125 motorbike, for a joke they waylay and hold up with a toy gun tourist coaches in the Highlands, in the process becoming a tourist attraction themselves. Having inadvertently acquired substantial amounts of money, they proceed to become modern Robin Hoods, doling it out to the poor of their city by scattering it on bike rides through its streets, attracting national media attention and pursuit by the police.
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Will Bryce and Ronnie Witherspoon, who are portrayed by Vincent Friell and Joe Mullaney respectively, decided to hold up tour buses in rebellion to their drab lives in urban Scotland becoming modern highwaymen. They had a toy gun that would shoot out a concoction powders. They inadvertently become tourist attraction themselves and become a modern Scottish version of robin hood spreading their spoils amongst impoverished areas of Edinburgh. The Clown and the wolf man become world famous with TV shows for Japan trying to catch them on film and Scottish police getting help from the Americans. The two became Legends of Scotland.
Restless natives came out at a time of high unemployment in the UK that hit Scotland especially hard due to economic changes and deindustrialisation brought in by the Conservative Government at the time that Scotland had voted against in the 1983 general election. The film reflects the frustration and lifestyle of working-class young Scots struggling to get work in the mid-1980s. The film shows our characters choosing to utilise the freedom of a motorbike to break free from this life style within the brutalists urban architecture and into the beautiful landscape of the Scottish Highlands. The use of the motorbike is also a soft reference to a government minister who told the unemployed to “Get on their bikes” to find a job.
The film has been described as a home-made expression of local Scottish culture and a source of Scottish cultural identity and feeding into the rising Scottish Nationalist movement at the time. This movement lead to the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. With some more recent polls showing support for Scottish independence at around 50-50 this film is still very much relevant in modern Scottish society. The film is a source of insurgent Scottish cultural identity and is very strongly juxtaposed to the idea of Britishness. The political nature can be obviously seen at point where will and ronnie put a mask of Margaret Thatcher on a pile of dung and use it as a road block. Thatcher was so unliked by the working class of Britain that when she died in 2013 “ding dong the witch is dead” reached #2 in the British charts. The film feeds into the Scottish nationalist movement in the arts that is heavily represented by the soundtrack from “Big Country”.
The soundtrack for Restless Natives evokes many mentions of Scottish history such as the line “240 years
We lived without hope and without pride “ This line refers to the battle of Culloden which ended the Jacobite uprising of 1745 and lead to what can only be described as cultural genocide against the highland people of Scotland. the Act of Proscription was put in place in 1746 that made the playing of bagpipes, clan tartans and speaking Gaelic illegal. The Heritable Jurisdictions Act also came into affect and essentially removed any land authority that surviving clan chieftains had, with all ownership reverting to the Crown. this had been compounded upon by an act of no quarter which lead to the execution of most surviving soldiers along with the highland clearance that began not long after in the 1750s. This small line coveys the anti Britishness of the films themes
Restless natives ends with the clown and the wolfmans riding through Edinburgh as crowds cheer them on. (Side note, my dads mates saw them filming this scene and were very confused as to why 2 men were riding down the mound all dressed up being chased by police) before going on one last stickup. Alas this was one to many and were captured by the police. However, the clown and the wolfman get set free, faking their deaths, as not to cause a political situation between the people of Scotland and the British government. The clown and the wolfman had become a symbol of freedom, anti-establishmentarianism and of Scotland.
Was a young teenager when this came out and instantly found it amazing and to have big country doing the soundtrack just to top it off.. underated classic..😎
Restless Natives has been in my all time top ten favourite movies list ever since I first saw it on TV around 1986-1987 time. Had a boxed VHS copy for years and bought the DVD when they finally put out a digital release many years later. I think there's actually a Blu-Ray out now. Still absolutley love this film and I go out of my way to show it to people who've never seen it before. The Big Country soundtrack (realeased as an extended single) is amazing too. If I remember correctly I believe that the film came about as a result of a screen writing competion whereby the winner would be adapted into a full production and thus we got this gem of a movie. 10 out of 10 for me! I Love Love Love Restless Natives!!
Ah yes the competition, I forgot about that. I recall another Scottish film I chuckled too but I didn't see it all. Something about giving a sleeping draught to someone but got too much and slept for days, been wondering for years over that.
Ive got the extended version too on cd. Saw BC last year on their tour, the room lit up to Restless Natives and I was a teenager again ❤
Brilliant when it came out still Brilliant now and a bloody awesome soundtrack.Damn glad I lived the 80s as a teenager.
Hey there! I watch this film in my early days when I was a scholarship in USSR with translation into Russian. I love this movie from the bottom of my heart, because it's full about Scotts spirit, so gorgeous nature and of couse the music. Many years later I start the collection of English language films from this one for deeply understood the culture as well. Many thanks to creators of this masterpiece it become a milestone in my life.
Bye for now
You had to have been living under a rock during the 1980's not to have heard of this film... its a classic
IT IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE MOVIE. I've been obsessed with it since I was a little girl. I always wanted to watch it when I was young because of the funny cover but my parents always told me I was to young. When I watched it for the first time, I loved it and since then I've watched it about a million times. I've visited all of the spots, it's so amazing!! Thank you for this video and the background information! Love it! ❤
Great post. This is also my favourite ever film. Everything about it is so utterly magical. The scenes in Edinburgh take me back to when I was a boy and you couldn’t have matched a better soundtrack to the film.
Me too. Absolutely love this film and Big Country.
This film is a childhood favourite of mine and also my younger brother, still love it now
R.I.P Vincent Friell (Will Bryce/The Wolfman)
Nailed it with the review, thanks.
It is still my favourite film, had the VHS until recently.
Stuart Adamson’s words were adept and the soundtrack does bind the film together 👍
its my favorite film of all time absolute class
Best film ever!!! And the music by big country is awesome
Was a massive Big Country fan back in the day saw this movie at the cinema when it came out. Still a favourite.
I learnt to play guitar only because at the age of 14, my older brother played Big Country on cassette player pretty much constantly. I got hooked on the sound. When this film came out on video, me and my mate (also a Big Country fan) must have watched it hundreds of times. I've resisted watching the film again because I'm nervous that it might not be as brilliant as I remember it. This video has just prompted me to buy it.
1 OV THE BEST SCOTTISH MOVIES EVER MADE A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH I MYSELF ,WAS LIVING THE YOUNG SCOT LIFESTYLE GRAFFTING FOR PENNYS,AND THIS FILM IS A CLASSIC NOW MK2 ESCORTS, INNOCENT NON FIREARMS CRIMES,AND LOVE,N ROMANCE ❤
Absolute class film.and the soundtrack is amazing
If Scotland ever gains independence the theme to Restless Natives should be the national anthem.
Me and my brother used to dress up as the clown and wolfman and go out on our bmx bike throwing paper money in the streets after watching this on video when it came out. Have it on dvd, one of my favourite films. Have been to some of the Highland locations too, as an adult though not on my bmx with my wolfman mask 😅🐺.
Love this film so much and the soundtrack.
The script is strewn with quips that are just comedy gold and the characters are totally relatable.
I have it on DVD and since I first saw it on TV in the 80s, i must have watched it nearly 100 times.
This film holds such a special place in my heart ....I was 12 years old when it was released ...it made quite a splash here in Scotland but didn't seem to translate to other markets back then ....all these years later I think many people all over the world because of online shops like amazon and others are starting to find this gem ....such a criminally underrated film and one of the best soundtracks ever ...Great review 👍
I totally love this film, it should be nominated for an Oscar, not only for the great music. Living in Sweden,this film went on and on several times on the channel Filmnet, a prelude to Netflix , and I saw Restless Natives at least 5 or 6 times in late 80ks just because of Big Country’s music. Greetings from Sweden btw…
My dad absolutely loved this film. I loved watching it with him cuz he's always laugh out loud 😂
I’m American and I love this movie and soundtrack. Big Country!
Stuart’s cameo is class! ❤
Just last night I recommended this film to a friend. I saw it when it first came out and I agree it’s classic.
One of my all time favourites from the first time I watched it in the late 80s. I owned a Suzuki GP100 (Ronnie has a GP125 in the film) and the ONLY reason I hired it from the local video shop was that I recognised the silhouette of the bike on the front cover.
It's been a firm favourite ever since. I have an original VHS copy, a DVD copy and a Blu-Ray copy - and also have Restless Natives and Rarities by Big Country. Oh and I also own another 1984 Suzuki GP100 almost identical to the one I had nearly 40 years ago now.
Great review of a brilliant film.
Restless Natives, Only Fools and Horses, Boys from the Black Stuff, Not the Nine O'clock News and Auf Wiedersehen Pet all came out of maggie's broken britain.
And here we are back in the same boat.
We never left that boat apart from a short spell from mid 90's to 2010. A lot of the destruction she caused between 89 and 91 still haunts us to this very day. Lack of housing for 1. Having a vote on Independence is another. Being so disillusioned we allowed the SNP to ruin our country for 16 years....We could go on and on and on. I love the anarchic feel of this movie, but I still want to be a part of the UK and will be voting against the SNP this election! Lang may yer lum reek 👍
This is one of my all time favourite movies. Sound track is amazing, but it's the story and the amazing acting. Everything just works.|
I was a huge fan of Local Hero so the guy at the video suggested this. Living about as far away from Scotland as you can get, I hadn't heard of this movie, so rented it and never looked back. Watched Comfort and Joy right after too.
Ah this is my favourite film. Amazing soundtrack as well.
I'm English and it's my favourite film.
My fave film ever. Love it.
It was probably the first thing I ever recorded off the telly with our new Ferguson Videostar VHS recorder when I was a wee lad. (I'm not Scottish btw)
saw it at the pictures about 20 times. only slightly more than i saw Big Country in concert... still wan ae ma favourites nearly 40 years later
i love this film
and could not agree with you more
Best soundtrack ever 👏👏👏
Ironically I had Restless Natives on the B side of Look away by big country whom I love even today. The film was on TV one night after I got home, missed the beginning so didn't know what the title was. I loved it then with the soundtrack, soon cottoned on who was singing.
Fast forward with videos being edged out, I spotted a copy on ebay for £75!
True to Will and Ronnie, we soon learned how to rip my copy and sold a few cds with the copy on for £5. Until the Dvd release years later which I now have.
I had a few conversations with fans of the film including one of the lads in the crowd as the bike turns the corner and a relative to the actor who played Will.
Sure it's a bit dated now but holds its innocence along with the political pokey stick it had. Those lads were legends as were all involved. ❤
Love this film, I remember when I first saw it on TV. There wasn't a soundtrack record or tape, if I remember at first it was two b sides, so I recorded them on tape together. Must find the dvd and cd if available
And so amongst these rock lived
Through summer heat
And winter snow
The Eagle he was Lord above
While Rob was Lord below..............🏴 💞 🏴
love that film and soundtrack
Vincent Friel appeared briefly in both Traimspotting as Diane’s dad and Angels Share as a judge. Not sure if Joe Mullaney did anything else.
It's a shame Restless Natives is not as well known and loved as other Scottish Films like Gregorys Girl, Trainspotting, The Angels Share. A lot of folk here haven't heard of it. It was on BBC Scotland about a year ago and I told people to watch it.
RIP Vincent Friell 😥
RIP Bernard Hill 😢
Right up there with Gregory’s Girl..
Big Country ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
One of my all time favourite films.
I first saw it on Channel 4 back in 86-ish?. At the time I could also get S4C which showed all the films of Channel 4 a day later, so I watched it again the next night and recorded it on video and then re-watched it many more times. There's a cameo by the late Mel Smith in it too.
Big Country are one of my all time favourite bands, so I love the soundtrack too
The film is similar in style to the much better known Gregory's Girl, another fantastic Scottish comedy made 5 years earlier.
I just learned that Vincent Friel ( will the wolfman) passed on the 14th April this year (2024)...r.i.p
Aye was a good aul show.
I think you mean “the best film I’ve seen every time I can’t find anything else to watch” the mrs is demented with me watching it 😂
I love this film I am Scottish it’s brilliant however I wonder why they never did a sequel
Ace soundtrack as well
Seen it, years and years ago.
Big country >>>
Best film ever
ah hold up buses
Can ah just say - Terri Lally xxxx
Absolutely brilliant film, even better soundtrack from my all time favourite band but in no way is the film anti British or pro Scottish independence
Part of my growing up.
We may never know who they were...
The movie would be remembered at all without the Big Country soundtrack.
i wouldnt say no one knowes about it
Cotters Saturday night Robert Burns