Sunset Song (2015)

The daughter of a Scottish farmer comes of age in the early 1900s.

Director:

Terence Davies

Writers:

Lewis Grassic Gibbon (novel), Terence Davies (screenplay)

Stars:

Ken Blackburn, Mark Bonnar, Stuart Bowman

2 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ken Blackburn	...	Galt
Mark Bonnar	...	Reverend Gibbon
Stuart Bowman	...	Alex Mutch
Emily-Jane Boyle	...	Christine
Ewan Comes	...	Newborn Guthrie Twin
Maelly Comes	...	Newborn Guthrie Twin
Ann Overstall Comfort	...	Mrs. Hemans (as Ann Comfort)
Callum Adams	...	Alec Guthrie (as Callum Davies)
Agyness Deyn	...	Chris Guthrie
Ron Donachie	...	Uncle Tam
Tom Duncan	...	McIvor
David Ganly	...	Tinker
Niall Greig Fulton	...	John Brigson
Caelan Fyfe	...	Toddler Ewan (as Gaetan Fyfe)
Jack Greenlees	...	Will Guthrie

Storyline

Spanning the 1910 decade, six years in the life of a girl named Chris, one of the numerous children of a tyrannical Scottish farmer. Years of high hopes and of disillusionment, of mirth and sorrow, of dreaming and toiling, of sweetness and violence, of love and hate, of peace and war. And in the end, the dignified loneliness of a new Chris, a woman who seems to have gone through several lives, now and forever as one with the land, the earth eternal...

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Plot Keywords:

1910s | farmer | scottish | love | female frontal nudity | 

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Taglines:

An epic story of love, loss and the land that inspired it all.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality, nudity and some violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

Agyness Deyn's character, as well as her family, has the surname "Guthrie". The actor playing Ewan Tavendale, her eventual husband is named Kevin Guthrie in reality.

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Goofs

At about 55:50 minutes in the main characters are standing talking in the high street as a flock of sheep moves past them. There are two of what appear to be large steel bollards on either side of the road. As the sheep progress through the scene the left hand bollard on screen wobbles as the sheep come into contact with it.

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Connections

Featured in Film 2018: Episode #44.12 (2015)

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Soundtracks

END CREDITS (VIOLIN SOLO)
by Gast Waltzing
© 2016 Milan Records

User Reviews

This is NOT the average film

I feel pity for those who have negatively reviewed this film from the point of where some of the scenic shots were or criticised the dialogue etc. I had heard the book read and the story acted on radio more than once in the past so much was familiar. I saw this in the Screen Machine (a mobile cinema which tours the Scottish Highlands and Islands). It was almost full with perhaps 75-80 there and I knew most of them so could judge their reactions and join in the conversation on the way out. For 2+ hours no-one moved - not even the handful of folk from the supposed area in Aberdeen-shire. Afterwards most felt like I did - emotionally drained. Sunset Song is not about the scenery, nor whether there were details that one or another felt weren't quite right. This was a reality check in the way in which poor country folk lived in the early part of the 20th century. It was about treating women as chattels and while I could have imagined or read about that, this was so graphic it was breathtaking. It wasn't Downton Abbey; it wasn't a Bond film but it was visually stunning and completely thought-provoking. I can't imagine anyone with a soul not being left with both a feeling of privilege to have seen it and humility that our own kin in the past lived this way. As for Agyness Deyn - amazing. Of course the accent wasn't flawless but it didn't matter. This was a brilliant and sensitive performance.

Details

Country:

UK Luxembourg

Language:

English Scots

Release Date:

4 December 2015 (UK)

Also Known As:

Sunset Song

Filming Locations:

New Zealand

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,995, 15 May 2016

Gross USA:

$159,714

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,302,482

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hurricane Films, Iris Productions, SellOutPictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (Spanish dubbing mix)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1