Local Hero (1983) 「ローカル・ヒーロー 夢に生きた男」

1998年 12月 01日
作者: Andrew "Nick" Nichols
カテゴリー:

出演:ピ-ター・リガード 、 バート・ランカスター
スコットランドの小さな漁村で繰り広げられるヒューマン・ドラマ。 この村の美しさと そこで起こる素朴で不思議な出来事は、主人公の心を癒すと共に、観ている者の心を惹きつける。 観る度に新たな発見をさせてくれる傑作である。

Students often ask me what my favorite movie is. To be honest there is no one film I can say is my all-time favorite, but this film certainly ranks in the top few I could watch over and over again.

Mac, a wheeler-dealer for a major Texan oil firm, is sent to Scotland to purchase an entire village for his company to raze and develop an oil refinery. The picturesque fishing village is the complete opposite of the urban sprawl of Mac’s Houston home, but soon captivates him with its simple, relaxed pace of life, and the down-to-earth attitude of the locals.

Mac had anticipated the locals to hold out selling the village and their homes. But all the locals, led by the shrewd pub owner Gordon, are secretly only too willing to sell and are holding out only to ensure the best deal possible for all, unimagined wealth.

Day by day in his dress and attitude, Mac becomes more and more like the locals, as they occupy their time renaming their fishing boats with dollar signs and arguing the relative merits of different makes of sports cars. The deal seems set to proceed smoothly with everyone a winner, wealth for the locals and Mac in a new found home. That is until it is discovered that Ben, an old beachcomber, owns the main beach crucial to the development, and refuses to sell.

Happer, president of Mac’s company is called in to close the deal and negotiate with Ben, with unexpected outcomes for all.

I really love the gentle, subtle humor in this film. There is humor in almost every scene, though you have to watch closely to appreciate it. It’s not the kind of belly-laugh humor most comedies reach for, and rarely hit, but more a mild prod at the weaknesses and naïveté of man. People tired of big budget action films may appreciate the slower, simpler pace of this film, though it may be a challenge to find this one on the local video shelves.