''Restless Natives'' is a 1985 Scottish cinema adventure comedy, directed by Michael Hoffman.

Plot

The story follows the adventures of two Scottish youths from the

Wester Hailes Wester Hailes is an area in the south west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Wester Hailes borders on Kingsknowe and Longstone to the east. Bankhead Industrial Estate and Sighthill Park lie to the north. History Although named after a large private ho ...

district of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, played by Vincent Friell and Joe Mullaney, who, in rebellion to their drab lives in urban Scotland in the mid-1980s, become modern

highwaymen A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to fo ...

. Donning masks of a clown and a wolf-man and riding a Suzuki GP 125 motorbike, for a joke they waylay and hold up with a toy gun tourist coaches in the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

, in the process becoming a tourist attraction themselves. Having inadvertently acquired substantial amounts of money, they proceed to become modern

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...

s, doling it out to the poor of their city by scattering it on bike rides through its streets, attracting national media attention and pursuit by the police. In the end, after temporarily escaping the police, they try to hold up another coach but it is not driven by a woman as it first seems but by a man (

Ned Beatty Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor and comedian. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in ...

) who has been pursuing them. The police catch up and they are arrested. But a man representing the

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

releases them because they have increased Scottish tourism by 15%. He instead organises a fake crash to explain their demise, with their identities still unknown.

Themes

''Restless Natives''—as suggested by its title—has underlying themes beyond its superficial presentation as a light social comedy film. It was produced at a time of high unemployment in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, with Scotland being particularly affected by post-industrial economic blight, and being governed from London by a Conservative party that the Scottish people had electorally rejected in the recent

1983 United Kingdom general election The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of the Labour Party in 1945, with a majority of 1 ...

. The main storyline's premise reflected the frustration of mid-1980s Scottish working class youth, using the freedom facilitated by a motorcycle to escape into revitalizing open vistas of the landscape of the Scottish Highlands. The production was a part of a group of small-budget cinematic productions, along with titles such as ''

Gregory's Girl ''Gregory's Girl'' is a 1980 Scottish coming-of-age romantic comedy film written and directed by Bill Forsyth and starring John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn and Clare Grogan. The film is set in and around a state secondary school in the Abronhil ...

'' (1981) and '' Local Hero'' (1983), that brought stories of contemporary life in Scotland to a global cinema audience. The film acquired cult status, being regarded as a homemade expression of local Scottish cultural pride, becoming a minor media source of insurgent Scottish cultural identity, subliminally juxtaposed to

Britishness British national identity is a term referring to the sense of national identity, as embodied in the shared and characteristic culture, languages and traditions, of the British people. It comprises the claimed qualities that bind and disting ...

, and feeding into the developing proto–

Scottish Nationalist Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and national identity. Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, progressing into t ...

movement in the arts, with its distinctive soundtrack from the band

Big Country Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981. The height of the band's popularity was in the early to mid 1980s, although it has retained a cult following for many years since. The band's music incorporated Scot ...

, whose music dealt with the same themes.

Music score

The soundtrack features music from the band

. This music was not released on an album but was combined into two lengthy tracks, each featuring various pieces of music and clips of actors from the film's audio, which appeared on limited edition formats of two Big Country 12" singles. The soundtrack was released on CD for the first time on the 1998 Big Country collection ''Restless Natives & Rarities'', where it is presented as a single 35-minute track.

Production

The screenplay won a film script writing competition held by

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the "Big Four (banking), Big Four" clearing house (finance), clearing banks. Lloyds B ...

before it was optioned for production.'On the side of the Angels', Malcolm, Derek. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 27 June 1985.

Reception

The film performed well at the box office in Scotland, but commercially failed in other markets.

References

External links

*
Dear Scotland: You have been watching... Restless Natives (review)

The Skinny: Cult Movie Column - Restless Natives
{{Michael Hoffman 1985 films 1980s adventure comedy films British comedy films Scottish films Films set in Scotland Entertainment in Scotland Arts in Scotland 1985 in Scotland Scottish comedy English-language Scottish films Films directed by Michael Hoffman Films shot in Edinburgh British road movies EMI Films films 1985 comedy films 1980s English-language films 1980s British films