''Chasing the Deer'' (''later re-titled'' ''Culloden 1746'') is a 1994

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by Graham Holloway and starring

Brian Blessed Brian Blessed (; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer. Blessed is known for portraying PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars'', Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of '' I, Claudius'', King Richard I ...

, Lewis Rae,

Iain Cuthbertson Iain Cuthbertson (4 January 1930 – 4 September 2009) was a Scottish character actor and theatre director. He was known for his tall imposing build and also his distinctive gravelly, heavily accented voice. He had lead roles in ''The Border ...

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

and Mathew Zajac. It depicts the 1745

Jacobite Rebellion , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...

, in which

Bonnie Prince Charlie Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...

landed in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, trying to claim the British throne. The title

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

ically alludes to the Jacobites as the

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

in a deer hunt. The phrase "a-chasing the deer" appears in the refrain of the romantic Scottish poem by

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

, '' 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-gang Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of ...

ed into the Jacobite army to fight for the Young Pretender,

. Euan's group of warriors are captured by Hanoverian loyalist troops and he is forced to join the

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom ...

's army as a drummer for the

. 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.

Production

The budget for ''Chasing the Deer'' was limited, and in order to raise money for the production, the filmmakers

crowdfunded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

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

extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

s. For the battle scenes, notably the depiction of the Battle of Culloden, the filmmakers engaged a Scottish battle reenactment group, the Scottish Clan Battle Society, to perform historical combat. The group also performed in other Scottish historical films such as '' Highlander'' (1985) and '' Braveheart'' (1995). ''Chasing The Deer'' was filmed on location in Scotland, including Culloden, Fort George,

Kingussie Kingussie ( ; gd, Ceann a' Ghiùthsaich ) is a small town in the Badenoch and Strathspey ward of the Highland council area of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically in Inverness-shire, it lies beside the A9 road (Great Britain), A9 road, ...

Ruthven Barracks Ruthven Barracks (), near Ruthven in Badenoch, Scotland, are the best preserved of the four barracks built in 1719 after the 1715 Jacobite rising. Set on an old castle mound, the complex comprises two large three-storey blocks occupying two sid ...

, and the Cairngorm mountains. Some internal sequences were filmed in England at

Hagley Hall Hagley Hall is a Grade I listed 18th-century house in Hagley, Worcestershire, the home of the Lyttelton family. It was the creation of George, 1st Lord Lyttelton (1709–1773), secretary to Frederick, Prince of Wales, poet and man of letters ...

in Worcestershire, and battle scenes at the nearby Wychbury Hill.

Music

The film soundtrack was scored by English rock musician

John Wetton John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. Known for his dexterous bass playing and booming baritone voice, Wetton first gained fame in the early 1970s. Wetton was the singer and p ...

includes music by the Scottish

celtic rock Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been extremely prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundatio ...

group

Runrig Runrig were a Scottish Celtic rock band formed on the Isle of Skye in 1973. From its inception, the band's line-up included songwriters Rory Macdonald and Calum Macdonald. The line-up during most of the 1980s and 1990s (the band's most succe ...

and the ex- Marillion singer-songwriter Fish, and features the song " Battle Lines" by

Cast

as Major Elliot *

Tullibardine Tullibardine is a location in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, which gives its name to a village, a castle and a grant of nobility. The village of Tullibardine is a settlement of approximately forty dwellings about southwest of Perth. It lies in the ...

*Matthew Zajac (as Mathew Zajac) as Alistair Campbell *

as Angus Cameron *Brian Donald as Old Campbell *Sandy Welch as Old Cameron *Peter Gordon as McKinnon *Carolyn Konrad as Morag * Lynn Ferguson as Shonagh *Lewis Rae as Euan *Simon Kirk as Sgt. Kirk *Andy McCullogh as Sgt. Monroe *Callum McDougal as a Crofter *Steven Cooper as a Crofter *Michael Leighton as

O'Sullivan O'Sullivan ( ga, Ó Súilleabháin, Súileabhánach) is an Irish Gaelic clan based most prominently in what is today County Cork and County Kerry. The surname is associated with the southwestern part of Ireland, and was originally found in Count ...

*Dominique Carrara as Charles Edward Stuart *Robert McIntosh as McDonald of Sleat *

Jacqueline Pirie Jacqueline Chadwick (''née'' Pirie, born 10 October 1975) is a Scottish actress. She is best known for her roles in the British soap operas ''Emmerdale'' (1994–1996) and ''Coronation Street'' (1998–2001), playing Tina Dingle and Linda Sykes ...

as Mary *Jock Ferguson as

Lord George Murray (general) Lord George Murray (4 October 1694 – 11 October 1760), 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. Par ...

Reception

Murray Pittock Murray G. H. Pittock MAE FRSE (born 5 January 1962) 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 Princip ...

's critical assessment of ''Chasing the Deer'' considered that Holloway's production was influenced by

Peter Watkins Peter Watkins (born 29 October 1935) is an English film and television director. He was born in Norbiton, Surrey, lived in Sweden, Canada and Lithuania for many years, and now lives in France. He is one of the pioneers of docudrama. His films ...

's 1964 film '' Culloden'' in its portrayal of the conflict as a clash between haphazard, tribal Jacobite warriors and the forces of modernity. 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. Writing in the ''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'', William Russel found the script and acting style clumsy and the

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to foc ...

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 Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

locations. ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' 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." ''Chasing the Deer'' has been credited with helping to raise cultural awareness of the historical events at Culloden.

External links

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References

{{Reflist 1994 films British war drama films English-language Scottish films Jacobite rising of 1745 films Crowdfunded films Films shot in Highland (council area) Films set in 1746 1990s war drama films 1990s historical films Scottish films 1994 drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s British films Charles Edward Stuart Prince William, Duke of Cumberland