Chasing the Deer

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Chasing the Deer
Chasing the Deer poster 1994.jpg
Chasing the Deer theatrical poster
Directed byGraham Holloway
Written by Bob Carruthers
Steve Gillham
Produced byBob Carruthers
Starring Brian Blessed
Lewis Rae
Iain Cuthbertson
Matthew Zajac
Fish
CinematographyAlan M. Trow
Edited byPatrick Moore
Music by Runrig, Fish, John Wetton.
Production
company
Cromwell Productions & Lamancha Productions
Release date
  • 16 December 1994 (1994-12-16)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Chasing the Deer (later re-titledCulloden 1746) is a 1994 British war film directed by Graham Holloway and starring Brian Blessed, Lewis Rae, Iain Cuthbertson, Fish and Mathew Zajac. It depicts the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion, in which Bonnie Prince Charlie landed in Scotland, trying to claim the British throne.

Contents

The title metaphorically alludes to the Jacobites as the quarry in a deer hunt. [1] The phrase "a-chasing the deer" appears in the refrain of the romantic Scottish poem by Robert Burns, My Heart's in the Highlands (1789).

Plot

In the time leading up to Jacobite rising of 1745, a young Highlander called Euan (Lewis Rae) and his father Alistair are press-ganged into the Jacobite army to fight for the Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Euan's group of warriors are captured by Hanoverian loyalist troops and he is forced to join the Duke of Cumberland's army as a drummer for the British. Major Elliot (Brian Blessed), a Hanoverian officer who has lost his own son, forms a protective relationship with Euan. Father and son end up fighting on opposing sides at the Battle of Culloden (1746). Euan is killed, and Alistair runs to his aid. Seeing a Jacobite soldier standing over the body of his favourite soldier, Major Elliot kills Alistair. [2] [3]

Production

The film depicts events leading up to the Battle of Culloden in 1746 Culloden (David Morier).jpg
The film depicts events leading up to the Battle of Culloden in 1746
Fort George was used as a filming location Inside Fort George 17 July 2011.jpg
Fort George was used as a filming location

The budget for Chasing the Deer was limited, and in order to raise money for the production, the filmmakers crowdfunded the film by inviting individuals to invest £1000 each in the project. In return for their contributions, the 374 investors were allowed to appear in the film as extras. [4] [2]

For the battle scenes, notably the depiction of the Battle of Culloden, the filmmakers engaged a Scottish Historical group, The Clan Wallace, to perform historical combat. The group also performed in other Scottish historical films such as The Bruce (1996) Highlander (1985) and Braveheart (1995). [5]

Chasing The Deer was filmed on location in Scotland, including Culloden, Fort George, Kingussie, Ruthven Barracks, and the Cairngorm mountains. [6] Some internal sequences were filmed in England at Hagley Hall in Worcestershire, and battle scenes at the nearby Wychbury Hill.[ citation needed ]

Music

The film soundtrack was scored by English rock musician John Wetton includes music by the Scottish celtic rock group Runrig and the ex-Marillion singer-songwriter Fish, [2] and features Wetton's song "Battle Lines". [7]

Cast

Reception

Murray Pittock's critical assessment of Chasing the Deer considered that Holloway's production was influenced by Peter Watkins's 1964 film Culloden in its portrayal of the conflict as a clash between haphazard, tribal Jacobite warriors and the forces of modernity. [1] However, Time Out contrasted Chasing the Deer unfavourably with Watkins's film for its small cast and over-reliance on a smoke machine, but singled out Brian Blessed's performance for praise. [8] Writing in the Glasgow Herald , William Russel found the script and acting style clumsy and the cinematography unimaginative and restricted. However, he also praised Brian Blessed's portrayal of Major Elliot, the choreography of the battle scenes and the choice of "stunningly beautiful" Highland locations. [2] Empire awarded the film two stars out of five, citing the low-budget production values and the use of "Tourist Board footage of lush countryside and antlered animals in order to fill gaping holes in the plot." [9] Chasing the Deer has been credited with helping to raise cultural awareness of the historical events at Culloden. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacobitism</span> 17 to 18th-century British political ideology

Jacobitism was a political ideology advocating the restoration of the Catholic House of Stuart to the British throne. When James II of England chose exile after the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, the Parliament of England ruled he had "abandoned" the English throne, which was given to his Protestant daughter Mary II of England, and her husband William III. On the same basis, in April the Scottish Convention awarded Mary and William the throne of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Culloden</span> Part of the Jacobite rising of 1745

The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby ending the Jacobite rising of 1745.

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<i>Culloden</i> (film) 1964 British historical film by Peter Watkins

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Lord George Murray, sixth son of John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl, was a Scottish nobleman and soldier who took part in the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1719 and played a senior role in that of 1745.

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The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of the British Army was fighting in mainland Europe, and proved to be the last in a series of revolts that began in March 1689, with major outbreaks in 1715 and 1719.

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Bob Carruthers is a Scottish filmmaker, author and broadcaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murray Pittock</span>

Murray G. H. Pittock MAE FRSE is a Scottish historian, Bradley Professor of Literature at the University of Glasgow and Pro Vice Principal at the University, where he has served in senior roles including Dean and Vice Principal since 2008. He led for the University on the University/City of Glasgow/National Library of Scotland Kelvin Hall development (kelvinhall.org.uk), and has chaired Glasgow's unique early career development programme, which has been highly influential in the sector, since 2016. He has also acted as lead or co-lead for a range of national and International partnerships, including with the Smithsonian Institution, and plays a leading role in the University's engagement with government and the cultural and creative industries (CCIs), organizing the 'Glasgow and Dublin: Creative Cities' summit in the British Embassy in Dublin in 2019, and working with the European network CIVIS on the creation of a European policy document on universities and civic engagement, on which he gave a masterclass for La Sapienza University He also produced a major report on the impact of Robert Burns on the Scottish Economy for the Scottish Government in 2020; a Parliamentary debate was held at Holyrood on the recommendations, which have been cited in policy debate many times since. In 2022, he was declared Scotland's Knowledge Exchange Champion of the year. Outside the University, he served on the Research Excellence Framework (REF) Institutional Environment Pilot Panel in 2018-22, and on the National Trust for Scotland Board (2019-27) and Investment Committee, as well as acting as Co-chair of the Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance (SAHA) and chair of the Governance Board of the Scottish Council on Global Affairs. He also serves as Scottish History Adviser to the NTS and as an adviser to a wide range of other national heritage bodies and the Scottish Parliament; recently he has provided expert advice to both the Scottish and British parliaments on promoting Scotland abroad, and serves on the Scottish Government's Scottish Connections Advisory Panel on the diaspora. He is on the Advisory Board of NISE, the Europe-wide research group bringing together over 40 research centres working on national identities and was President of the Edinburgh Walter Scott Club in 2019-20 and 2021-22. He has given a number of major lectures, most recently the Magnusson, MacCormack and Caledonian lectures

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Events from the year 1745 in Scotland.

George Mackay, 3rd Lord Reay (1678–1748), was a Scottish noble and chief of the Clan Mackay, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands. During his life the Glorious Revolution took place which directly affected his family and estate, and during his chiefdom he served the British-Hanoverian Government during the Jacobite rising of 1715 and the Jacobite rising of 1745.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atholl raids</span> Military actions in 1746

The Atholl raids of 14 - 17 March 1746 were a series of raids carried out by Jacobite rebels against the British-Hanoverian Government during the Jacobite rising of 1745.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacobite Army (1745)</span> Military unit

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<i>An Incident in the Rebellion of 1745</i> Painting by David Morier

An Incident in the Rebellion of 1745 is an oil painting painted by Swiss-born artist David Morier sometime between 1746 and 1765. It is currently part of the art collection of the British royal family. The painting depicts a scene during the 1746 Battle of Culloden, in which a group of Jacobite Army troops charge against a line of government soldiers.

References

  1. 1 2 Pittock, Murray (2016). Culloden: Great Battles. Oxford University Press. p. 149. ISBN   9780199664078 . Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Russell, William (22 August 1994). "Culloden of high ideals?". Glasgow Herald. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  3. "Review for Chasing the Deer (1994)". IMDb. Archived from the original on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  4. Holder, Geoff (2014). "Scottish History on Screen". The Little Book of Scotland. History Press. ISBN   9780750956864 . Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  5. McArthur, Colin (26 September 2003). "5. Scotland and the Braveheart Effect". Brigadoon, Braveheart and the Scots: Distortions of Scotland in Hollywood Cinema. I.B.Tauris. p. 128. ISBN   9781860649271 . Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  6. "Chasing the Deer (1994)". Scotland: the Movie Location Guide. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  7. Romano, Will (November 2014). "21. My Own Time". Prog Rock FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Rock's Most Progressive Music. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN   9781617136207 . Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  8. "Chasing the Deer". Time Out. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  9. Westbrook, Caroline (1 January 2000). "Chasing the Deer Review". Empire. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  10. White, Leanne; Frew, Elspeth (2013). Dark Tourism and Place Identity: Managing and Interpreting Dark Places. Routledge. p. 273. ISBN   9780415809658.