''Donkeys'' is a 2010 Scottish independent

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

, directed by Morag McKinnon and starring

James Cosmo James Ronald Gordon Copeland , known professionally as James Cosmo (b. 1947), is a Scottish film and television actor known for his appearances in films including '' Highlander'', ''Braveheart'', ''Trainspotting'', ''Jagame Thandhiram'', ''Tro ...

Kate Dickie Kate Dickie (born 1971) is a Scottish actress who has appeared in television series, stage plays and films. She is known for her television roles as Lex in the BBC series '' Tinsel Town'' (2000–2001) and Lysa Arryn in the HBO series '' Game ...

Martin Compston Martin Compston (born 8 May 1984) is a Scottish actor and former Association Football, professional footballer. He played Anti-Corruption Unit Detective Inspector Steve Arnott in the BBC drama ''Line of Duty'', Liam in Ken Loach, Ken Loach's '' ...

Brian Pettifer Brian Pettifer (born 1953) is a British actor who has appeared in many television shows, and also on stage and in film. He is the younger brother of folk musician Linda Thompson. Biography He intended to become a photographer, but pursued a career ...

, and

Natalie Press Natalie Press (born 15 August 1980) is an English actress. She is known for her performance in the 2004 film ''My Summer of Love'' and a number of short and feature-length Independent film, independent films, including ''Wasp (2003 film), Wasp' ...

. It was awarded best feature film at the

2011 British Academy Scotland Awards The 2011 British Academy Scotland Awards were held on 13 November 2011 at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow, honouring the best Scottish film and television productions of 2011. Presented by BAFTA Scotland, accolades are handed out for the best ...

, and Cosmo was named best actor.

Plot

The film is a black comedy or tragicomedy set in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. Cosmo plays an old man called Alfred trying to mend his relationship with his children, daughter Jackie (Kate Dickie) and son Stevie (Martin Compston), with darkly comic results.

Production and release

It was originally planned as the second part of the Advance Party trilogy inspired by

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (''né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nominat ...

and the

Dogme 95 Dogme 95 is a 1995 avant-garde filmmaking movement founded by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vows of Chastity" ( da, kyskhedsløfter). These were rules to create films ba ...

movement. It followed

Andrea Arnold Andrea Arnold, OBE (born 5 April 1961) is an English filmmaker and former actor. She won an Academy Award for her short film ''Wasp'' in 2005. Her feature films include ''Red Road'' (2006), ''Fish Tank'' (2009), and ''American Honey'' (2016), ...

's ''

Red Road Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

'', and all the films in the trilogy, produced by

Sigma Films Sigma Films is a film production company based in Glasgow, Scotland. The company was formed in 1996 by Gillian Berrie, David Mackenzie and Alastair Mackenzie – a producer, director and actor respectively. Over the last twenty years the com ...

and

Zentropa Zentropa, or Zentropa Entertainments, is a Danish film company started in 1992 by director Lars von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen. Zentropa is named after the train company Zentropa in the film ''Europa'' (1991), which started the colla ...

, were supposed to feature the same characters and actors. Kate Dickie's character Jackie was the lead playing a

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

camera-operator in ''Red Road'' and is a checkout operator in ''Donkeys''. However the production was difficult, due partly to the illness of original lead actor Andy Armour, who was eventually replaced by James Cosmo; Armour died of cancer a few months later. It was premiered at the 2010

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

and opened in October 2010 at Cineworld Renfrew Street in

Reception

The film's reviews were mixed. ''The Hollywood Reporter'' praised its "mordant humour" but found the characters uninteresting. The Scotsman rated it 2/5, complaining that the restrictions of the trilogy brought no benefit to the film, and that it lurched tonally between tragicomedy and tragedy through a series of obvious plot twists. ''The List'' gave it a more positive review, scoring it 4/5, and praising it as a

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

that was tonally quite distinct from ''Red Road''. The ''Radio Times'' criticised the direction and screenplay as "slipshod". ''The Quietus'' considered that it wasn't as good as ''Red Road'' and would confuse audiences expecting a straight sequel, but was "moving, funny and disturbing in parts".

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1134846 Films set in Glasgow Scottish films 2010 films British comedy-drama films English-language Scottish films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films