A Transactional Geography of the Image-Event: The Films of Scottish Director, Bill Forsyth

Author(s): Stuart C. Aitken

Source: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, Vol. 16, No. 1 (1991),
pp. 105-118
Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the
Institute of British Geographers)
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/622909
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 105

A transactional geography of the image-event:

the films of Scottish director, Bil Forsyth
STUART C. AITKEN
AssociateProfessorof Geography,Departmentof Geography,San DiegoState University,San Diego,
CA 92182, USA

RevisedMS received5 July, 1990

ABSTRACT
The successof a film-maker is usuallybasedupon her or his uniqueinsightsinto how people perceiveandrespondto
situationsand settings.This is not to suggest that filmswork simplyor primarilybecausetheirmakersunderstandthe
conventionsfor representingbehaviourin the environment.Film-makers exploit'image-events'to cut acrossnarratives.
Theimpactof animage-eventis baseduponviolatingeverydayexpectationsandtherebyheighteningthe involvementof
the audiencewith the film.As such,the portrayalof unusualimbalancesanduniquetransformations betweenpeopleand
environmentsconstitutesan importantcomponentof good cinema.
Thispaperexploresa frameworkfor understanding the person-environmentmeaningembodiedin narrativecinema.
The framework, drawingfromrecentdevelopmentsin transactional theory,suggestsways thatgeographerscaninvesti-
gate theperson-environment dynamicsembodiedin filmsequenceandrhythm.Transactionalism providesalsoa meansof
exploringthe relationshipsbetweenthe film-maker, the medium,andthe audience.
A transactionalframeworkis used as a basisfor studyingBillForsyth'snarrativefilms.Forsyth'suse of image-events
penetratestheextraordinary withineverydaylifein Scotland.Inaddition,he does muchto subvertsomeof themythsthat
havebeenpervasivein the portrayalof Scottishculturesincethe eighteenthcentury.

KEYWORDS:Cinema,BillForsyth,Transactionalism,
Scotland,Myth

INTRODUCTION selves. Thus in a novel, for instance, written words

that constitute a narrative are organized so as to
The medium of the motion picture is an integral part recreate people, places and events, but in narrative
of modem western culture. At the societal level it cinema the world is there, very recognizable,from the
provides a reflection of cultural norms, social struc- beginning. Moreover, and centralto the argumentsin
tures and ideologies. At the individual level it is an this paper, the frame-sequence in a motion picture
important element in shaping experiences and in portrays the dynamic interactionbetween people and
moulding relationships between people and places. their social and physical environments. If, as I will
The use of film as a means towards understanding argue, the foundations of successful narrativecinema
individualperson-environment relationsand broader lie in a unique portrayal of the dynamic interaction
social-cultural stuctures remains provocative, but between people and places, and if narrative cinema
largely unexplored in geography. This is curious has the power to frameaspects of contemporary cul-
given the power of film not only to impassion aspects tures,then it seems reasonablethat this mediumshould
of behaviour in environments but also to stimulate fall more fully within the purview of geography.
social consciousness. Of course, such a claim may be The basis of a successful film is often predicated
made of other art forms, but much of the power of upon the film-maker's ability to grasp aspects of
film is based upon a reversal of the fundamentalprin- meaning which allude others, and to communicatethe
ciples of artistic representation.Whereas in literature potency of this meaning. The creation of narrative
or sculpture, people and environments are rep- filmimplies also the initiationof a desire to explore, to
resented by other elements, in film the fundamental move from one scene to the next. But narrativefilms
elements are the people and environments them- do not work simply or primarilybecause their makers

Trans.Inst. Br. Geogr.N.S. 16:105-118 (1991) ISSN: 0020-2754 Printedin GreatBritain

106 STUART C. AITKEN
understandthe conventions for a sequentialrepresen- analysis of what film seems to be primarilyabout, viz.
tation of behaviour in a setting. On the contrary,the text, narrative, discourse, and so forth. Landscape
impact of a scene often relies upon violating every- shots, for example, help construct a narrativespace in
day expectations and thereby heightening the which film characterscan performvarious actions of a
involvement of an audiencewith a film.The portrayal plot. Higson (1984) suggests that these spaces need
of unusualimbalancesfrom one film-frameto another not be neutral backdrops, but can be read as real
and the representation of unique transformations places which authenticate the narrativefiction.2This
between people and environments constitute vital use of environment can shift the narrativeaway from
components of good narrative cinema. Meaning in the particularto the general,i.e., to a broadernarrative
cinema, as in real life, is often displayed effectively which may communicate underlying political, social
when events raise it above the level of the mundane, or culturalmeaning. Much remains to be said about
beyond the clutches of habituation(Aitken, 1986). how narrative films in general, and the portrayal
In the last few years, transactionaltheorists have of person-environment relations in particular,can
directed theireffort to understandingthe dynamics of bolster or subvert the discourses which frame
person-environment relations in terms of habituation contemporary geographies.
and change(Altman and Rogoff, 1987; Stokols, 1988; The empirical focus of this paper is the work of
Aitken and Bjorklund, 1988). These researchers Scottish film director Bill Forsyth. Within Scotland,
emphasize process and activity, or people doing Forsyth is 'The Name' associated with indigenous
things within the context of a social and physical film-making.His films are the only representatives of
environment.Thus, temporalqualitiessuch as rhythm the 'new Scottish cinema' distributed outside of
and sequence are inherent aspects of a transactional Britain(Park,1984). This paper is not intended to be
perspective. In narrative film, rhythm and sequence an exhaustive study of Forsyth'sfilms,but a consider-
turn a succession of separate shots into an organic ation of his use of image-events to enhance the por-
unity which provides images with cohesion. An trayal of person-environment dynamics in his four
'image-event' may be defined as a sequence of shots Scottish films That Sinking Feeling(1979), Gregory's
which violate or enhance the rhythm of a film and, as Girl (1980), LocalHero (1982), and Comfortand Joy
such, it is the fundamental level of communication (1984). I suggest that Forsyth's image-events suffuse
between film-maker and viewer.1 The film-maker a broader narrative which speak to some dominant
uses image-events to create person-environment discourses on Scottish culture. My first goal, then, is
imbalances and transformations which produce a to use a transactionalperspective to explore Forsyth's
rhythmic stucture that infuses the film narrativewith use of appositions, contradictions and disparities at
continuity and life. This paper, building upon the level of the characters,the lines of dialogue, the
my research on person-environment transactions environment, and the incidents that make up his
(Aitken, 1986; Aitken and Bjorklund,1988; Aitken image-events. My second goal is to explore the
and Prosser, 1990; Aitken, 1990), suggests a structure broader narrativeof Forsyth's films. First,I report on
for analysing how film communicates at the level of some recent analyses of Britishliteratureand art that
the image-event. unveil a series of myths which represent Scotland as
Of course, the vitality of good cinema goes politically and culturallyinept and, secondly, I show
beyond the intimacy of an audience with specific how Forsyth's narrative subtly transcends and
image-events and an immediate narrative.A broader subverts these myths.
narrativemay communicate much of political, social
and cultural importance. Geographers have shown
some interest in the portrayal of culturallandscapes INTERPRETING THE CINEMATIC
through the mass media (Burgess and Gold, 1985; IMAGE-EVENT
Zonn, 1990). Zonn (1984; 1985), for example, focuses
upon Australianlandscapes portrayed by the motion Critics of the need to provide structurefor the study
pictures of film director Peter Weir. Gold (1984; of film suggest that films are somehow delicate, like
1985) shows how future urbanlandscapes portrayed roses, and pulling the petals off a rose in order to
in films such as Fritz Lang's Metropolis(1926) and study it is often an act of destruction. Conversely,
David Butler'sJustImagine(1930) can reveal contem- others have taken the position that films,being tough,
poraneous social and political structures.Despite this strong, and structurallyindivisible, cannot be pulled
work, geographers have paid little attention to the apart for study (Worth, 1981). I would suggest that
 A transactional thefilmsof BillForsyth
geography: 107
there is a danger of anecdotal ratherthan systematic Filmaestheticsand structure
use of film-knowledge without some research struc- Some characteristics of transactionalism appear to
ture. Unfortunately, those studying film face confus- have significancefor the study of film. Transactional
ing and sometimes confounding choices between perspectives account for all participantsin a particular
approaches and theoretical frameworks.Before turn- context (Aitken and Bjorklund,1988): the film-maker,
ing to Forsyth's film portrayalof Scotland and Scots, the portrayed charactersand environments, and the
I provide some research structure based upon a audience are all parts of understanding the aesthetic
transactionalperspective. impact of a narrativefilm. Thus it would be a misuse
of filmcontent to attempt to learnfrom it by trying to
suspend or get around the aesthetic dimension of
Transactionaltheory person-environment portrayal which encompasses
The position taken by transactionalism in the both the ideology and morals of the film-makerand
social sciences is that of understanding person-in- the evaluative propensity of the viewer.
environment contexts as a function of particular Zonn's (1984) use of the transactionalperspective
ongoing transactionsbetween persons and environ- centres upon the relationsbetween an audience and a
ments (Aitken et al., 1989). Research under this per- landscape through the filter of the portrayed media
spective is linked by the assumption that individuals image (cf. Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton,
do not attain a stable adaptation to, or integration 1981). He suggests that the view of landscape pre-
with, their environment. The focus is on changeas an sented to a spectator by a film must differ from the
integral part of people's experience. Change is perceptual image received in direct experience.
initiated by an event which creates imbalance and Landscape portrayal in film is circumscribedby the
transformation.Events are a nexus of behavioural, aesthetic quality of the transaction.The aesthetic in
environmentaland temporalfeaturesand, as such, it is this context centres upon providing an audience with
important not to fragment a person-in-environment new awareness. The intensity, direction, and charac-
whole artificiallyby studying behaviours or environ- ter of attention by the viewer to a landscape por-
ments separately. trayed in a film will result in a greater or a lesser
Transactionalismis based upon the philosophical degree of involvement.
frameworksof Dewey and Bentley (1949) and Pepper Zonn (1984) focuses upon the audience-film trans-
(1942; 1967).3 Originally adopted by environmental actions rather than the film structure and sequence,
psychologists in the 1970s (Ittelson, 1972; Wapner et but here too transactionalism can provide some
al., 1973), transactional research has broadened to insight. The rhythm and dynamic of film narrative-
encompass aspects of sociology (Pastalan, 1983), its aesthetic and communicativepotential and its role
environmentaldesign and architecture(Proshanskyet in film perception-come under the purview of a
al., 1983; Archea, 1986), urbanstudies and geography transactional perspective. Carroll (1980) notes that
(Oxley et al., 1986; Aitken and Prosser, 1990; Aitken, one of the recurringproblems in contemporary film
1990), natural resource management (Zube et al., theory is a lack of concern with the aesthetic dimen-
1983), and landscape perception (Sell et al., 1984). sions of film structure.Although the meaning of a film
Aitken and Bjorklund (1988), in a review of the is inferred in large part from images and sounds,
impact of transactional theories on behavioural meaning is also clearly that which the director
geography, suggest that questions arising from the implies in her or his arrangementsand sequencing of
study of person-environment change are not trivial. the elements, units and parts of the film.4 The
For example, how do people come to terms with an dynamic aspect of film is beginning to receive
environment that undergoes abrupt change? How renewed attention in part due to dissatisfaction with
does a criticaltransition in life, such as the birth of a the static explanation of meaning given by modem
child, change the relationshipa person has with her or semiological-oriented film theorists (van Leeuwen,
his local environment? Are all phases and forms of 1985). As Jakobson says: 'Film works with various
people-environment relations equally susceptible to and varied fragmentsof objects which differin magni-
change? If not, what situational and personal factors tude, and also with fragments of time and space like-
account for variable rates of change? How does the wise varied; it changes the proportions of these
rate and sequence of change transformthe fundamen- fragmentsandjuxtaposes them in termsof contiguity,
tal relationship people have with their social and or similarityand contrast'(akobsen, 1933, p. 46). The
physical environment? portrayed environment can be used over and over
108 STUART C. AITKEN

again in a variety of circumstances (connecting specific external images which, when stored on film
transactions in time and space), or it can change and sequenced, become an image-event. Worth
dramaticallyfrom one image-event to the next. (1981) describes five parameterswhich, for our pur-
Transactionalismtracksan arrayof ongoing events poses, can be a startingpoint for describing the struc-
related to a theme of inquiry ratherthan isolated to a ture of the image-event. The parametersare an image
particularbit of behaviouror setting. This perspective in motion over time through space with sequence.
parallelsmore mainstreamapproachesto film theory. These-along with an overlay of shape, size, scale,
Eisenstein(1943; 1949), for example, describes a suc- colour, sound and light-are the cues that provide
cessful film montage as one which provides an meaning for the portrayal of person-environment
audience with a 'collision of ideas'. Eisenstein'sthesis relations.The striprunningdown the centre of Figure
suggests that '... elements of a production could be I (like a strip of film) is the external, objective
arranged in a formally determinable order so that a image-event.
viewer would be aroused ("shocked"in Eisenstein's Image-events may comprise either ordinary or
terminology) in precisely the intended mannerand to extraordinaryevents. A good film-makerexploits the
the intended degree' (Carroll, 1980, p. 9). Worth transformationwhich occurs with the juxtaposition
(1981) re-interpretsEisenstein's'collision' as 'conflict' of ordinary and extraordinary image-events. We
and suggests a dialecticwhereby an image-event rep- need to understand this transformation in terms
resents a composite of 'ideas', and from one image- of person-environment transactions. Aitken and
event colliding with another there emerges a third Bjorklund (1988) describe a model whereby four
image-event. The notion of the image-event also modes of possible behaviour/environment trans-
parallels aspects of the psychoanalytic tradition action are incorporated in terms of ordinary and
exemplifiedin the work of Metz (1974). For Metz, the extraordinaryevents (Fig. 1). In the first case, ordin-
two formative elements of film structure-the event ary behaviour applied to an ordinary environment
and the sequence-are images. As such, he argues that results in a relatively uneventful narrative. The
the event and the sequence are direct analogues of the audience'sattention is drawnby its ability to relate to
world: an image denotes that which it represents. In habitual,everyday circumstances.In the second case,
a critique of Metz, Carroll (1980) declares that this a behavioural event significantly alters habitual
position abdicates responsibility for any internal forms. The environment, however, remainsunaltered
analysis of the image, i.e., Metz does not address any and the audience'sattention is focused on the behav-
level of structurebelow that of the sequence/event. I iour of the character(s).Where there is an extraordi-
suggest that the image-event may be used to disclose nary environmental event and behaviour remains
and explore film structure and, ultimately, film fixed, the audience is drawn to an appreciation of a
aesthetic. In addition, transactionalismadvises that dynamicmilieuand the natureof humanconservatism.
researchers studying film structure, style, or syntax Finally, extraordinaryhuman behavioural responses
can do so fruitfully only within a framework that may be juxtaposed with extraordinaryenvironmental
includes the film-makerand the film viewer. events.
The transactionalcategories in Figure I are neither
mutually exclusive nor exhaustive. No assumptions
Imagesin motionovertimethroughspacewith sequence are made about relative frequency or sequencing
The frameworkproposed in Figure 1 is a synthesis of except that the success of the film will usually hinge
some of the above ideas. The first part of Figure I upon the creation of appropriaterhythm. In terms of
relates to the film-maker'screationof the image-event involvement, an audience will seek to make sense of
and is derived from the work of Sol Worth (1969; an image-event, and to define and locate itself
1981). A film-maker has a 'feeling' or 'belief', the with respect to that event. Filmviewers continuously
recognition of which arouses sufficient 'concern' so attempt to organize the portrayed person-
that s/he is motivated to communicatethat feeling to environment transactions, endowing them with
others. Usually this feeling-concem-belief is vague, meaning and speculating upon a broader narrative.
amorphous, and internalized until the film-maker This process of communication works at some times
develops a 'story-organism' within which it can be but not others. That is, a film-maker constructs a
embodied, carried,and transmitted.After awareness sequence of image-events meant to represent an
of the feeling-concern and development of the story- immediatestory-organismand a broadervision, and a
organism, a film-maker can begin to collect the viewer may or may not infer what is intended.
 A transactional thefilmsof BillForsyth
geography: 109

PERSON-
FILMMAKER IMAGE- EVENT ENVIRONMENT OUTCOME
TRANSACTION

heightened
ORDINARY involvement
I BEHAVIOR with the
I immediate
narrative and,
ORDINARY ultimately, the
ENVIRONMENT broader narrative
//
IMAGF IN EXTRAORDINARY
p BEHAVIOR I
MOTIONOVER p
&
TIME THROUGH ORDINARY
ENVIRONMENT
SPACE WITH I
ORDINARY
I BEHAVIOR
I
&
0-- EXTRAORDINARY
ENVIRONMENT
story-organism I
EXTRAORDINARY
BEHAVIOR

&
NARY
EXTRAORDI V
ENVIRONMENT

FIGURE1. Theuse of image-eventsin the portrayalof person-environment

transactions

BILL FORSYTH: GLIDING ON THE Comfortand Joy (1984) is about a Mafia-style feud
SURFACE OF LIFE'S DEEPS between two Glaswegian/Italian ice-cream vendors:
Mr Bunny and Mr MacCool. The use of almost arbi-
Theimmediatenarrative traryplot-devices in each of these filmsis the basis for
In order to depict Scots in particularcontext, Forsyth much of Forsyth's humour.
uses a quirky humour to articulate commonplace The plot in Gregory'sGirl (1980) revolves around
customs and ways as his characters subtly transact an adolescent trying to get a date with Dorothy, the
with ordinary environments. The commonplace school heart-throb and soccer star. Gregory is ulti-
event becomes extraordinaryin the hands of Forsyth mately exposed to the wiles of the girls who dribble
and, as such, his charactersbring a shrewd clarity to him along like a soccer ball at their feet until he
prosaic situations. Although his films revolve around finishes up, not with the girl of his fancy (Dorothy),
everyday dialogue and contexts, the events por- but with the one who fancied him (Susan).Forsyth's
trayed are often eccentric, contradicting norms. The skill is in combining dialogue and pace with an utter
plot of That Sinking Feeling(1979) is based upon a lack of melodrama to provide his own stylized rep-
warehouse heist of stainless steel sinks ('ill-gotten resentation of an ordinaryworld. The audience is left
drains') by acne-smitten adolescents in Glasgow. with a whimsical feeling for the complexities of the
110 STUART C. AITKEN

ordinaryin everyday life: the funniest moments in the films. Particularimage-

events underscore the incongruity of the extraordi-
Ultimately,I amtryingto celebrateeverythingas ordin- nary in the mundane and vice versa. Near the end of
ary,in a very self-conscious
way.Ijustwantto penetrate LocalHero,a fleeting glimpse of Marina(the Edinburgh
people'slives on the basisthateverythingis ordinary.I researchassistant)diving under the water reveals that
wantto highlightthatordinariness, to penetrateit rather
she might be a mermaid. Early on in the same film,
thandramatizeit. To makesomethingspecialwhen in
factit isn't,seemsto be to be a denialof the very thing the young American executive, Macintyre, rescues a
thatthefilmis tryingto createorglamorize.Thepurpose rabbitand names it Trudionly to be served 'le lapin'a
of humourin my workis to defuseany hintof dramatic few days later in the hotel restaurant:'It's what the
artificethat might be creepingin (Forsyth,quoted in locals eat aroundhere, Macintyre. Anyway, whoever
Park,1984, p. 109). heard of keeping a pet rabbit in an hotel room, it
would be unsanitary'.The mundane in the extraordi-
A transactional interpretation of Forsyth's film nary is exemplified also in Comfortand Joy when a
structuresuggests that one of the ways he highlights thug stops vandalizing an ice cream van to ask the
ordinariness is through juxtaposing contrasting main character(a famous disc jockey in Glasgow) for
themes and images. One of the plot-devices of his autograph.In a similarfashion, the climaticdepar-
Gregory'sGirl, for example, is Dorothy's successful ture of Macintyre from the Scottish village in Local
trial for the all-boy soccer team, a team in which she Herois grounded by one of the fishermen:'Excuseme,
replaces Gregory. Mr Menzies, the soccer coach, Mr Mac, can I get your autograph please?'.As in life,
seems unaware that mixed-sex soccer teams are not it is the extraordinary that alleviates boredom and
condoned by the Scottish education system: 'What creates humour in our transactionswith other people
about the showers?'asks the Headmaster.'Oh, she'll and places.
bring her own soap' is Menzies quick response. To Although Forsyth's narrativesare relatively direc-
underscorethe apparentincongruity of a girl in an all- tionless, his films do not lack rhythm.A tracing of the
boy soccer league, the rest of the film is replete with dynamics of characters' relationships with the
gender juxtapositions: dialogues between the girls environment reveals a pattern that forms a crucial
take place in the science class, and those between the basis of LocalHero.Macintyre graduallyloses his own
boys take place in the cookery class. world as he becomes more enamored and intimate
A fictitious coastal village (Feress) in the Western with the Highland environment. On his first
Highlands of Scotland is the setting for the 'culture encounter with the Scots, his alarm-watch period-
clash' that is the basis of Local Hero (1982). An ically remindshim of business meetings he is missing
American oil company is trying to buy the idyllic back in Dallas. By the end of the film, the watch is
setting for a refinery. The film revolves around how washed out to sea with a bleep and a gurgle as
American oil money mixes (or doesn't) with Scottish Macintyre forgets it during a sea-shell collecting
savvy. The humour is smitten with Scottish doleful- spree.Moreover, Macintyre'simmaculatepresence at
ness and irony; the type that is practiced upon the beginning of the film has become unshaven and
Americans, generally beyond their ken but vastly dishevelled by the time his boss (BurtLancaster)flies
pleasing to the locals. The opposition and incon- out to help him clinch the purchaseof the area for the
gruity in this case is between the lifestyle of Dallas' oil refinery. The locals, on the other hand, envy
executives and the lifestyle of a Ferness' fisherfolk. Macintyre and his wealth. One old fisherman re-
Each culture is jealous of the apparent benefits names his boat 'dollar'and then 'high-flier'as the film
accruingto the other. progresses. Other locals dreamof fast sports cars and
Forsyth's narratives are relatively directionless expensive vacations to exotic places.
although they are interspersed with spontaneous Environments and settings are integral to the
incongruities that provide a semblance of continuity. unfolding of Forsyth's narratives.The hectic lives of
Runningjokes suchas the passing penguin in Gregory's the Dallas oil executives in LocalHeroare contrasted
Girl and the passing motorcycle in Local Hero are with the desires for love, peace, and a need for some
examples of Forsyth's use of whimsical continuities. access to the mysteries of the universe. A meteor
Other plot-devices seem quite arbitrary (e.g., the shower and the aurora borealis are extraordinary
lying-down dance in Gregory'sGirl and the heist of environmental events for Macintyre, providing
sinksin ThatSinkingFeeling).Indeed,it is these aspects another nail for the coffin of his Dallas existence. The
of incongruity and arbitrarinessthat create some of aesthetic of the Highland environment casts a cloud
 A transactional thefilmsof BillForsyth
geography: 111
over all that was previously important to Macintyre. tive meaning and flow. This implies that the urban
The 'local hero' turns out to be an old beachcomber, environments, in one sense, envelope and constrain
Ben, who makes his living from what is washed up on the characters.As such, the environment becomes a
the shore. Old Ben-the owner of a criticalpart of the metaphor for a character'sstate of mind-or 'geogra-
beach-is unwilling to sell, not even when offered a phy of the mind' (Higson, 1984, p. 8). Each environ-
dollar for every grain of sand on the beach. His ment in Forsyth'surbanfilms reflects the mood out of
priorities eventually win over Macintyre's boss. The which the principalcharacter(s)are endeavouring to
tranquilityof the environment acts as a superiorforce, break.
imposing its own patterns on the locals and the The lack of adequate recreational facilities in the
intruders. This interpretation, although accurate, is designed Newtown of Cumbemauld is in evidence
somewhat superficial. A transactional perspective throughout Gregory's Girl as various characters
enables a more penetrating focus on Forsyth's use of devise ways of entertaining themselves and coping
landscapeshots to engage the attention of the viewer with the constraints of the environment. Usually this
in unique ways, and to produce particularcharacter coping revolves around gender relations: From get-
constructions. As Higson (1984) notes, landscape ting a peek at nurses with 'brassieres'('Tak it awff,
shots must at one level create a narrative space in lass! Tak it awff!')to hitch-hiking to 'Caracas'(where
which the protagonists of the dramacan perform the the girls outnumberthe boys two to one). The 1970s,
various actions of the plot. In a scene near the begin- drab,pre-fabricatedarchitectureis contrasted against
ning of LocalHero, for example, Macintyre and the soft-focus daydreams and the effervescence of the
local innkeeperdiscuss the sale of property in Ferness adolescents. In That SinkingFeeling,a scene depicts
on a hill-slope overlooking a picturesque bay. The three of the main characterssitting in an automobile,
scene implies Macintyre's potential control over this presumably driving, discussing the boredom of their
environment, but, in the distance, walking along the lives. Forsyth then moves the image back to
beach, is Ben. The audience has not been introduced encompass what is revealed to be a derelict car in the
to Ben at this point, but there is a hint of the charac- midst of slum clearance.This classic cinematic tech-
ter's importance to the overall narrative.Clearly, the nique of moving from the particularto the general is
environment is being incorporatedinto the narrative. used to underscore the deprived context of these
It is the construction of this scene-wherein Macintyre adolescents' environment. Narrative sequence thus
and the innkeeperostensibly control the stage but old defines a space for the purpose of portraying person-
Ben is 'waiting in the wings'-which speaks to a set of environment transactions in context. Forsyth uses a
person-environment transactionsthat are the key to more subtle narrative landscape sequence towards
the whole narrative. the end of Gregory'sGirl. The dynamic of the urban
The effects of environment are perhaps more landscape changes when Gregory eventually meets
subtle in That Sinking Feelingand Comfortand Joy Susan.As they walk towards the country park,vistas
(Glasgow), and in Gregory's Girl (Cumbemauld). open and the enclosed monochronic urban environ-
Inner-city slums and dilapidated Victorian parks are ment is replaced with an open, colourful, semi-rural
the setting for That SinkingFeeling.Renewal projects setting. Once again, the environment imposes its
and peripheralcouncil housing schemes are the set- own pattern on Forsyth's narrative.
tings for Comfortand Joy. In all three films, Forsyth In both That SinkingFeelingand Gregory'sGirl one
uses 'That Long Shot of Our Town from That Hill' is left with the impression of a tough environment
(Krish, 1963, p. 14) again and again to engage the where the adolescent is a proficient survivor. This
audience in the realism of the setting. The repeated feeling is highlighted by contrasts with adults who
use of long shots of the cityscapes provides another are caricaturedas buffoonish (Gregory's soccer coach,
form of continuity in Forsyth's relatively direction- Mr Menzies) or habituated (Gregory's Dad and the
less narratives. Moreover, Higson suggests (1984) school's Headmaster).The adults are merely part of
that this type of cinematic technique transforms a the grey and drab environment. In fact, the younger
narrativespace into a legitimate place. The long shot the character, the more precocious and worldly:
of the cityspace establishes, economically, the overall Gregory's younger sister Madilyn and her boy-friend
space within which the action takes place. A trans- Richardare portrayed with a maturity beyond their
actional perspective on Forsyth's use of long shots years. After asking Gregory for a date with his sister,
takes this argument further.In all three of his urban Richard is quickly told to 'Act your age, go break
films, Forsyth uses the long shot to cut against narra- some windows-you'll run out of vices before you're
112 STUART C. AITKEN
twelve, go on, piss off!'.In a laterscene, Madilyn takes
tive film.They have not only given Forsyth a crucial
Gregory shopping after explaining that 'if you're place in the development of Scottish film but they
going to start falling in love, you'd better starttaking
have also placed on his shoulders a considerablebur-
care of yourself'. At the cafe, Gregory takes his sister
den of cultural responsibility (Malcomson, 1985).
into his confidence by describing his dreams of This burden is all the more onerous because it comes
Dorothy. Madilyn retorts 'Ijust dream of ginger beer at a time when the roots of Scottish tradition and
and ice-cream, I'm still a little girl, remember?'.Weculture are being questioned (Trevor-Roper, 1983;
sense that this is not really the case, Forsyth subtly
Pringle, 1988). It is critical then, to assess Forsyth's
reverses the common relationship between age and broadernarrative.In this part of the paper, I draw on
maturity. It is not until later on in the movie that aspects of audience-film transactionsin terms of how
the irony of Gregory's first conversation with Mr filmcan create or subvert contemporarygeographies.
Menzies becomes clear: Gregory asks, smirking, 'Is Zonn (1985), for example, shows how the characterof
that a moustache your growing? That's good, it images of Australia presented by the Australian
makes you look older, more mature'.'Do you really cinema since 1970 strongly reflects attempts to
think so?' replies the coach. 'Oh yes', says Gregory,crystallize and promote particular aspects of the
'I'mdoing a lot of growing up too, it slows you down nation's identity with landscape. Before trying to
you know'. place Forsyth's broadernarrativein such a context, it
An investigation of person-environment trans- is important to understandin what ways the origins
actions should incorporate both the social and the of Scottish cultural traditions have been called into
physical environment. It is important to note brieflyquestion.
that the inconsistencies between Forsyth's characters Speculation on the privation of Scottish history
and their physical environments are paralleledby the and geography through the media is found in some
relationshipsbetween his characters.Therearealways recentresearchon art,literature,cinemaand television
communication difficultiesbetween the primary and (McArthur,1982; McIntyre, 1984; Malcomson, 1985;
secondary characters (e.g., Gregory and Dorothy, Pringle, 1988).6 Craig (1982) identified two
Macintyre and his boss). As with his person-place 'frozen' discourses-Tartanry and Kailyard-which,
relations, Forsyth's person-person relations are con-he suggests, represent Scotland as politically and
voluted andindistinct.InLocalHero,one importantlink culturally irrelevant. The origins of Tartanry and
may be made between these two types of relations. Kailyardmay be traced to the uneasy period in the
McIntyre (1984) proposes that Forsyth creates a eighteenth century when Scotland was settling into
mystical connection between Marina and the union with England.These joint discourses represent
innkeeper's wife on the one hand, and nature on Scotland's apparently featureless integration into an
the other. Moreover, parallelingtheir relationship toindustrialculture whose power and identity lay out-
the physical setting, the principalmale charactersin side Scottish control. The literary tradition of
LocalHero(and in the three urbanfilms)are unable to Tartanryand Kailyardbegan in the nineteenth cen-
dominate or control the female characters.5 tury and evolved into Scottish film.7Tartanry por-
trays the Highland Scotland of romantic glamour.
One critic of Forsyth suggests that his film narra-
tive creates imbalancesand transformationsamongst This is the discourse of the novels of SirWalter Scott,
characterswhich give way to misty, dream-likenarra- operas and musicals like Donizetti's Lucia di
tive 'resolutions' (Malcomson, 1985). These flimsy Lammermoor (1823) and Minnelli's Brigadoon(1954),
narrativeresolutions may explain why Forsyth'sfilms and narrative films like Rob Roy the HighlandRogue
do not seem to end although they are certainly satis-(1953) and Geordie(1955). Tartanryis based upon a
mythicized past of brave but unsuccessful heroes.
fying enough not to requiresequels. I doubt if we will
ever see Gregory'sGirlII: TheLaterYears.And yet, as Being frozen, the discourseleaves behind any tangible
ideology, history or geography. The culturalgeogra-
with life, we are left with the feeling that the trans-
phy it creates is that of heather, hills and glens, kilts
actions portrayed in Forsyth's film continue after the
credits roll. and porridge, brawny men and cabers, the Highland
clearances and Culloden. More critically, it creates
Thebroadernarrative a contemporary Scotland of diminished capacity
That Sinking Feeling,Gregory'sGirl, LocalHero, and in which political power and cultural greatness
Comfortand Joy are the most popular and widely are historicized and thereby made inaccessible
distributed representationsof currentScottish narra- (Malcomson, 1985). The contemporary Scot is
 A transactional thefilmsof BillForsyth
geography: 113
to
compliant English domination. The Kailyard dis- more low key it was, the morepenetratingit would be,
course portrays a second series of myths which rep- butobviouslyit doesn'twork.Maybepeopledon'twant
resents the Lowland Scots as parochially insular, to have to give that kind of attentionto something.
poor, humble, puritanicalfolk;people concerned only Maybe you haveto be broadanddramaticor something.
Itis amazinghow crudeyou haveto be in a film(Forsyth
with their own cabbage patch (the literal meaning of
talkingaboutLocalHero,quotedin Park,1984,p. 56).
Kailyard).It is mawkish sentimentality which creates
a cultural geography based upon haggis and
haddocks, whisky and beer, crofts and wee but-n- In contrast to Forsyth's urbanfilms, LocalHerowas
bens, and community and family life. Craig (1982, roundly condemned in the Britishmedia for perpetu-
p. 11) describes Kailyard as the discourse which ating the myths of Scottish culture.McArthur (1982)
established an image of Scots as narrow-mindedand feels that it comes very close to falling into the
Scotland as 'a world of grotesquely impoverished Kailyarddiscourse.LocalHero'sstory-line, based upon
human potential'. From this mythical world there can the opposition of American entrepreneurship and
be no positive development of the culture from Scottish couthiness, is remarkably similar to that
within. This is the discourse of films like The Little bastion of Kailyarddiscourse, TheMaggie (1953). In
Minister(1934), Whisky Galore(1949), RocketsGalore true Kailyard fashion, the Scots in The Maggie win
(1958), BonnieScotland(1935), TheMaggie (1953), and against the American corporate machine through
GreyfriarsBobby(1961) or the newspaper images of their own shrewd savvy ratherthan through political
'The Broons' and 'Oor Wullie' in Scotland's most struggle (McArthur, 1982). The message of the dis-
parochialnewspaper, TheSundayPost. course is, of course, that the Scots can achieve their
goals only at this level. But the resolution of Local
In romanticizingand mythologizing an apolitical Hero leaves neither the Scots nor the Americans as
'Scottishness',in celebrating defeat, nostalgia, and winners.Power to resolve the issue of who gains from
sentimentality,in applaudingsymbolicvictoryoverself- the
oil-refinery (both Macintyre and the residents of
determination (thesediscourses)displace,even actually Ferness want the sale to
whichwouldbe of genuinecul- go through) is left in the
preventrepresentations hands of the eccentricoil tycoon (BurtLancaster)who
turalandpoliticaluse withinthe contemporary Scottish
situation(McIntyre,1984,p. 54). decides to turn Ferness into a marine preserve. This
narrativeresolution underscoresthe powerlessness of
I would like to suggest that the 1980s witnessed some people who live in this part of Scotland. The lives of
the Scots in Forsyth's films are not romanticizedwith
thawing of these frozen discourses. Which returnsus,
after some distance, to Forsyth's broadernarrative. victories through Kailyard couthiness or Tartanry
McArthur(1982) feels that Gregory'sGirland That heroism. Forsyth quotes someone from the Isle of
who thankedhim for making a film that showed
Sinking Feeling, in particular, eschew Tartanry/ Skye
what it was like to live in the Highlands: 'It wasn't
Kailyardand deploy discourses that are not maudlin
but which relate to aspects of the lived experiences of escapist for him, and it wasn't romantic for him,
because he was one of the people portrayed in the
contemporary Scots. Forsyth's forays into the codes
and attitudes of working-class adolescent Scots are plot' (Forsyth quoted in Park,1984, p. 90).
Several characterizationsand image-events com-
nothing but enlightening: for example, the import-
ance of fish 'n' chip shops (Gregory'sGirl),ice-cream bine in LocalHeroto subtly subvert the Tartanryand
vans (Comfortand Joy), and jam doughnuts (That Kailyarddiscourses. The blackparishministerand the
Sinking Feeling). These codes are integrated with leather clad punks in the ceilidh band, for example,
are far removed from romantic tartan-adored
degenerated urbansettings and pitiful heroes to pro-
duce films that are more ironic than parodic. Forsyth Highlanders. Cabbage-patch mentality is difficult to
describes himself as a serious-minded and didactic find amongst the villagers who are eager to sell up
film-maker.He has a keen sense of the incongruities and the sophisticated innkeeperwho is equally ready
that make the ordinary extraordinary,he expresses to coordinate the sale. In fact, it is the American oil
his amazement that people frequently miss the tycoon who appears the most enigmatic about the
world's affairsas he searches the heavens for a comet
meaning behind events in his films:
to name after himself.
Thereis a lot of ironiccommentin therewhichseemsto A disparity between discrete image-events and a
havepassedpeopleby. Maybeit is justtoo underplayed broader narrative is evident in all Forsyth's films. In
in thescript.Theway I wastryingto workit wasthatthe LocalHero,the reality of living in a depressed area on
114 STUART C. AITKEN
the periphery of the European Community subtly Scottish film production-documentaries. Over the
intrudes on the narrativein terms of Forsyth's depic- ensuing years Forsyth was first a drop-out from the
tion of people's relationships to their environment: National Film School and then he formed his own
'It's just scenery to them Macintyre, you cannot eat production company (Hunter, 1984). Out of this
scenery, it doesn't pay the rent'. Job prospects and came a dream to produce Scotland's first feature film.
dole queues are intertwined in the narratives of the The dream came to fruition in That Sinking Feeling
urbanfilms, ComfortandJoy, That SinkingFeelingand which reflects, in part, Forsyth's own upbringing in
Gregory'sGirl.The sink heist is hatched in part out of Glasgow but also, more crucially,it reflects his con-
boredom and in part out of a need for money: the two nections with the Glasgow Youth Theatre. At the
scourges of unemployed youth in Glasgow. time he was working on Gregory's Girl Forsyth
Attempted suicide is humorously parodied when one became involved with the Youth Theatreas a place to
of the 'gang' in That SinkingFeelingtries to drown recruit his cast. Struckby the aimless despair of the
himself in a bowl of Cornflakes. In Gregory'sGirl, unemployed teenagers, he put off Gregory'sGirl to
window-cleaning is upheld by Gregory's friendas the make ThatSinkingFeelingabout their lives (Champlin,
kind of job any self-respecting male would want to 1987).
aspire to. Forsyth's films suggest also that success in There are weaknesses in Forsyth's vision of
life need not be ensured with wealth and material Scotland and Scots. He has admitted to not being
prosperity. The disc-jockey in Comfortand Joy dis- concerned with politics in making films, but simply
covers that fame and fortune do not placate the break with charactersand situations. In interviews, Forsyth
up with his girlfriend. Near the end of Local Hero, offsets the importance of his broader narrative. His
Macintyre is willing to exchange his life-style (includ- agenda as a film-makeris not to address Scotland's
ing a fully paid for Porsche and a condominium in 'frozen' discourses with political statements but to
Dallas) for the life (and wife) of the innkeeper in subvert subtly the English and Hollywood styles of
Scotland. film-makingthrough the unconventional rhythm of
LocalHeroends with a ringing telephone kiosk in his narrative and the extraordinary transactions he
Femess. After he loses his alarmwatch, the telephone creates for his characters:
kiosk representsMacintyre'sprimarylink with Dallas
('We wull paint it any colour ye want, Mr Mac').Now Theway thatI go aboutmakingfilmsis a reactionagainst
that Macintyre has returned to his own reality in whatyou couldcallthe traditionalEnglishdramatically
Dallas, he places a call to the telephone kiosk. The structuredfilm,andalso,especially,the Englishformof
film acting. So I suppose I'm quite openly reacting
telephone rings on unanswered as the captions roll.
againstthat.I'mdoing that becauseof the relationship
Forsyth always bursts any romantic bubble he may that Scotlandhas had with England.I supposeit's that
have created and leaves us with a cogent taste of
inferioritythat we feel, the Scots people, vis-a-vis
reality. England(Forsyth,quotedin Malcomson,1985,p. 19).
THE FILM-MAKER'S VISION
Forsyth sees himself as an experimental film-maker:
The auteur theory has permeated film criticism over 'The thing that interests me about anything I do is not
the last two decades. Park(1984) places Forsyth with the story but the use of film and the way film mani-
the new aggressive breed of writer-directorsin British fests itself behind whatever surfacethere is' (Forsyth,
cinema. He suggests that those directors who see quoted in Park, 1984, p. 116). Although critics have
there role merely as artisan-likeinterpretersof scripts noted the similaritiesin story-line between LocalHero
are unlikely to develop new notions of cinema: '... and The Maggie, it is Forsyth's use of film structure
there are permutations in the relationship between rather than his story-lines that reveals a contempor-
writer, director and producerwhich do not allow for ary Scottish culture. In his rebellion against the
the creation of new cinema aesthetic' (Park, 1984, rigidly-organized style of English film comedy
p. 120). Auteur theory suggests that the controlling Forsyth indulges in prosaic narrativeswhich arehigh-
element in the rendering of a new cinema aesthetic lighted by extraordinary events. For Forsyth, the
must be the personal vision (feeling/concern/belief) style of his film-makingis more reflective of real-life
of the film-maker.To acquire that vision requires an than conventional English and Hollywood narrative:
immersion in the context of the film.
Forsyth, now 43, was bor in Glasgow and, at the Really,I supposethe filmsboil downjustto a collection
time of writing, still lives there. He leart his craft in of moments which may give the audiencea certain
 A transactionalgeography:thefilms of Bill Forsyth 115
amountof insightinto eithera character
or a situationor rhythm and sequence of film images provides a
a placeor variousdegreesof each of them.And that's useful starting point to disentangling the person-
aboutallI wouldwantanyoneto get froma filmthatI've environment transactions portrayed in narrative
made(Forsyth,quotedin Malcomson,1985,p. 20). cinema. As such, I suggest that the image-event is
the fundamental level at which we can investigate
One could argue that Forsyth is abdicating politi- narrativefilm.
cal responsibility by letting the incongruities and
inconsistencies made explicit at the level of the Image-events are dynamic tools which, when used
properly, heighten the awareness of an audience and
image-event languish with his flimsy narrativeresol- engage them in a film-maker'svision. Forsyth'snarra-
utions. Forsyth stops short of any explicit generaliz- tive films provide a good example of the use of
ations of working-classhistory, nor does he attempt to
image-events to penetrate contemporary Scottish
impose or even suggest any programme of Scottish culture. He creates a rhythm that parallels everyday
political or cultural redemption. Malcomson (1985) experience of the ordinary and the extraordinary.
suggests that Forsyth's Scots, freed from Tartanry Forsyth uses image-events in apposition (ordinary
and Kailyard,are left with very little to do. Forsyth's
characters do not rely upon a mythical Kailyard against ordinary) and opposition (ordinary against
extraordinary)to highlight his vision of everyday life
couthiness or Tartanry-styled heroism. And yet
in Scotland. As such, he adeptly portrays the inter-
Forsyth's vision is poignant. His exposition of the
ordinarinessof everyday life in Scotland reflects the dependency of person-environment relations. In his
films,the environment reflectseither the state of mind
struggle that most of us have to make sense of a world to which the main characterswish to aspire, or the
that is larger than ourselves. This is the 'deep' that
mood from which the main charactersare trying to
Forsyth 'glides over'.
escape. Forsyth's narrativessuggest that, ultimately,
incongruities such as these will not be resolved. He
CONCLUSIONS juxtaposes long shots of cityscapes and landscapes
with characteraction, for example, to highlight the
In this paper,I establish some rationalefor incorporat- encompassing nature of the environments within
ing a transactionalperspective in the study of narra- which the characterstransact.
tive film. In film theory, there is some confusion Ultimately the film-maker'svision can speak to a
between the structuraloperation of the film medium broadernarrativewhich has implications beyond the
on the one hand,and the bases for aestheticjudgments immediate image-event. There is some debate as to
on the other. The study of structureis concerned with whether Forsyth's films cut through the 'frozen' dis-
how it is possible to perceive, understand and create courses of Scottish culture.In truth,Forsyth does not
film sequences whereas an aesthetic describes the avoid the Kailyardand Tartanrymyths, but neither
mechanisms which enable the viewer to value and does he bolster them. Nor does he attempt to con-
prefer certain of these constructions. A transactional struct any new discourses. Forsyth purposefully
perspective appears to offer an appropriate concep- stages and then deconstructs Kailyardand Tartanry,
tual frameworkfor the study of rhythm at the level of not through any dialogue or generalizations, but
the image-event. Transactionalismsatisfies also the through explicit disparities between discrete image-
need to understand meaning at a broader level events and an unconventional approach to film
because there are two sets of person-environment rhythm that subvertsboth the EnglishandHollywood
transactions that are worthy of study: those por- styles of film-making. His experimental film tech-
trayed in the film and those between the audience and niques penetrate the ordinaryand it is this, more than
the film.The underlyingpremiseis that a juxtaposition anything, that enables viewers to appreciate aspects
of ordinary events against extraordinary events of the contemporary culturalgeography of Scotland
enhances the involvement of the viewer in the narra- and Scots. Forsyth'svision is, quite simply, to explore
tive. Moreover, landscapes and physical environ- the incongruity in everyday events. He constructs a
ments need not be neutral backdrops but can be shrewd portrayal of person-environment dynamics
juxtaposed against charactersand vice versa. As such, that leaves the audience with one way of coming to
environments can become real places which authenti- terms with the realities of life.
cate the narrative fiction, or they can represent and Through a carefulconsiderationof how the image-
play-off the emotions of the principalcharacter(s).A event is used to create film narrative,one can gain an
focus on the events and incidents that drive the appreciation of the importance of representing the
116 STUART C. AITKEN

relationship between people and environments in 5. It is interesting to note, as an aside, that in Housekeeping
particular context. In this sense, a search for the juxta- (1987) Forsyth's principalcharactersare women. In this
filmhis women-environment relationsarenot portrayed
position of the ordinary and the extraordinary is
in terms of dominance or control. Rather, the principal
probably the most penetrating way to explore the charactersrelate to the physical environment in terms of
sequence, rhythm and, ultimately, the aesthetic of film nurture.Their relationship to the built environment, on
narrative. the other hand, is destructive.
6. Evidence of the authenticity of certain Scottish
traditions may be found in areas out with the media.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Although beyond the discussion of this paper, archival
I would like to acknowledge the encouragement and evidence seems to corroborate some of the speculation
on the privation of Scottish history. Trevor-Roper
support of Leo Zonn, and the comments of Ken Foote
and three anonymous reviewers on an earlier draft of (1983), for example, suggests that much of the Scottish
this paper. Highland 'tradition'was invented during the eighteenth
century by the English or by bourgeois Scots. In fact, he
attributes the invention of the kilt to an English Quaker
from Lancashirewho wanted the workers in his iron-ore
NOTES
smelting factory near Inverness to dress more suitably
1. The term 'image-event' was coined by Sol Worth (1969) for their toil. The significance of George IV appearing in
in his development of a semiotic of film. Worth Edinburghwearing a kilt in 1822 may be related to royal
suggested that the image-event could be described as appropriationof Scottish 'tradition'.At about the same
sign; given the behavioural oriented set of definitions time, Landseer's paintings of Queen Victoria in the
for sign developed by Morris (1946). In terms of film Scottish Highlands '... signified a royal imposition and
communication, then, an image-event has the same sig- appropriate of the Scottish landscape and Scottish his-
nificationto the organism which produces it that it has to tory' (Pringle,1988, p. 146) at a time when an industrializ-
other organisms stimulated by it (Worth, 1981). The ing Britain needed to consolidate under an imperialist
orientation of this paper required that I provide a more ideology.
specific definition of the image-event in terms of the 7. Craig (1982) exposes the development of Tartanry and
dynamic of film structure. Kailyard in nineteenth century Scottish literature.
2. Higson (1984) writes a penetrating account of the use of Trevor-Roper (1983) describes how Scottish literary
person-place juxtapositions in British 'working-class' traditions at this time were influenced by one or two
('kitchensink')films of the 1950s and 1960s. In particular, major figures who were intent upon creating a mythic
he explores directors' use of protagonists in landscape past.
and townscape shots in the context of the validation
of these types of shots by contemporary middle-class
discourses. FILMS CITED
3. Dewey and Bentley (1949) and Pepper (1942; 1967)
examine the philosophical and metatheoretical assump- BUTLER, D. (1930) Just imagine, 20th Century Fox,
tions implicit in physics, biology and the social sciences. Hollywood
Dewey and Bentley (1949) discuss self-action, inter- DISNEY, W. (1953) Rob Roy: the highland rogue, Walt
action, and transactionas three approaches to the pursuit Disney Productions, Hollywood
of knowledge. Transactionalism assumes the insepar- DISNEY, W. (1961) Greyfriars Bobby, Walt Disney
ability of contexts, temporal factors, and physical and Productions, Hollywood
psychological phenomena. Pepper (1942; 1967) also FORSYTH, W. (1979) Thatsinkingfeeling,BritishNational
focuses on context, assuming that temporal processes Film School, London
are inherent features of events. He suggests that '... FORSYTH, W. (1980) Gregory'sgirl, Samuel Goldwyn
change goes on continuously and never stops. It is a Productions, Hollywood
categorical feature of all events ...' (1942, p. 243). FORSYTH,W. (1982) Localhero,An Enigmaproduction for
Altman and Rogoff (1987) provide an excellent review Goldcrest, Warner Bros production
of Dewey and Bentley's, and Pepper's, influence on psy- FORSYTH, W. (1984) Comfort and joy, Kings Road
chology. Stokols (1988) speculates on the impact of Productions, London
transactional and transformationaltheories in environ- FORSYTH, W. (1987) Housekeeping,Columbia Pictures,
mental psychology, and Aitken and Bjorklund (1988) Hollywood.
assess their impact on behavioural geography. GRIFFITH,D. W. (1934) Thelittleminister,Independent
4. This view-based upon auteur theory (ca. 1962)- LANG, F. (1926) Metropolis,Ufo, Berlin
suggests that the director is the primarycreative force in MACLEOD, A. (1949) Whisky galore, Ealing Studios,
a motion picture. London
 A transactionalgeography:thefilms of Bill Forsyth 117
MACLEOD, A. (1958) Rockets galore, Ealing Studios, GALAN, F.W. (1983) 'Cinema and semiosis', Semiotica44:
London 21-53
MACLEOD, A. (1955) Geordie,Ealing Studios, London GOLD, J. R. (1984) 'The city of the future and the future of
MACKENDRICK, A. (1953) The Maggie, Ealing Studios, the city', in KING, R. (ed.) Geographical futures
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MINNELLI, V. (1954) Brigadoon, 20th Century Fox, GOLD, J. R. (1985) 'From"Metropolis"to "The City":film
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