The Stone of Destiny

Our two screenings of 'The Stone of Destiny' brought in an audience of 542 people and very positive comments. There were a goodly number of Scottish enthusiasts judging from the singing of Scottish songs on the way out and the sonorous rolling r's in some of the after film commentary. Following his much beloved "The Snow Walker" director Charles Martin Smith has created another big AFF hit. Beautifully filmed on location and featuring a marvelous ensemble cast, Smith tells this heart-warming, true adventure tale of spunk, pride and patriotism in a light-hearted, humourous, romantic and exciting fashion. The story details, with a little literary license, the real events of Scottish Nationalist Ian Hamilton's attempt to recover the Stone of Destiny (aka Stone of Scone), from the British, with the help of a makeshift motley group of passionate youths. Smith filmed in the actual locations where the events occurred including the rooms where the event was plotted and the streets where the co-conspirators lived; he was the first filmmaker in 40 years to be able to film in Westminister Abbey. Ian Hamilton, who is in his 80's now, was on set contributing much to the storyline.

Here's a nice interview with the Ian Hamilton where he also gives his impressions of the film.
http://www.booksfromscotland.com/Authors/Ian-Hamilton

The cast was superb, composed of a blend of fine young and veteran actors. Robert Carlyse (The Full Monty), Peter Mullan (Boy A and The Magdalene Sisters) and Brenda Fricker (My Left Foot) provided the veteran chops while Charlie Cox (Stardust), Kate Mara (Brokeback Mountain), Billy Boyd (The Lord of the Rings) and Steven McCole (Band of Brothers) exuded the exuberance and passion of youth.

The soundtrack was uniquely fine featuring a number of moving Scottish songs.

Julian D.