The Happy Lands

Audience Reviews

View All (2) audience reviews

Audience Member I saw The Happy Lands last night at The Gala Cinema Durham, along with my 18-year-old daughter, Iona. I loved it and she liked it a lot, although it's far from her usual fare. I grew up in Lumphinnans (which is between Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly) and laughed when I saw the name Cowdengelly, because that's the joke word we as kids used to use for the area. In fact for a short time when I was 4, my Mum and Dad rented a room in the original Happylands (the name of a real area of a few streets) in Lochgelly. I loved the film. I thought it was 100% true to the people I grew up with in the 50s and 60s, many of whom had lived through 1926. The whole community can be proud of this film and so can the film-makers. Together they've made one of the best films of its kind I've seen in a 40-year career in television and the media. I'm naturally inclined to favour this kind of film anyway, but sometimes they can be a bit too agit-prop and worthy. Not in this case. The heart of the film is the people and the power of their mutual support and kindredship/comradeship. It's a community's work of cinematic art. Wish I'd been there! Look at The Happy Lands website, look out for screenings near where you are, and if none are scheduled, ask your local cinema or other venues to show it. a post from Robert Duncan Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member We saw the film at the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy. It was difficult to believe that, bar 2 people, none of the actors were professional - in fact, they were from the Fife community, many of them descended from the mining families involved in the 1926 General Strike and subsequent lockout. The film is incredible! The script is so well written, and is even in the local Fife dialect ... don't worry, there are subtitles! The cinematography by Scott Ward is excellent; Scott unfortunately passed away soon after the film was completed, so this is his final work. Finally, the acting; it's so hard to heap enough praise onto the cast for the passion, the realism that they showed. Jokie Wallace, a star in his portrayal of Dan Guthrie, has rightly been nominated for a Scottish BAFTA. We laughed, we cried, we gasped in sheer disbelief at mans inhumanity to man. Ultimately, we left the cinema in no doubt that we had seen a film shot on a low budget, with amateur actors, that would put many of a Hollywood mega-bucks movie to shame. The most shocking thing is that this film doesn't yet have national exposure, it's still on a roadshow. A sales agent NEEDS to pick this film up - the world needs to see this dark slice of our nations history, so that nothing like this need happen again. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Happy Lands

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW