Rob Roy ranks up there with The Last of the Mohicans
for me. An authentic historic setting, authentic dialogue and behavior;
conflict between tradition and new ways, between tribe and state; a noble
warrior, a strong woman...
...a love story...
These images and most quotes are from the official web
site.
"Rob Roy was a man of honor caught up in circumstances which were way beyond his power to control. The really intriguing part came in exploring how a man of action reacts when his actions cannot ultimately affect the outcome." --co-producer Peter Broughan.
Director Caton-Jones noted that "Liam Neeson...is not only enormously talented, but he possesses an innate sexuality--an almost animal grace...and, of course, he's Celtic...
...how rare it is to find a script so beautifully written, with a female
role as multi-dimensional as Mary...how purely male and female it was,
full of love and lust, trust and honor, sexuality and sensuality."
Archie is "very fey, almost like a dame from English pantomime, but lurking underneath is this truly lethal sociopath." --Tim Roth
The soundtrack to Rob Roy is excellent, especially "The Rieving Party." The elegant layering of the four main voices is stirring. Bodhran, voice, low whistle, orchestra... It's a little different on the soundtrack from the actual music in the opening scene of the movie, but because it's fuller it stands alone better. The lilting whistle melody sounds a bit like some of Phillip Glass' music. Perhaps its a Scottish aria. "Hard Earth," soloed by Karen Matheson, is also a beautiful piece.
Liam Neeson said in an interview in Vanity Fair that he wants to
be the next Sean Connery. Sounds good to me. Coincidentally, Sean Connery
is quoted as stating that Karen Matheson, who sang in the Rob Roy soundtrack,
has a "voice surely touched by God" on a sticker on Capercaillie's
album To the Moon.
Since the soundtrack omits a list of the tracks on the back of the case,
I typed one up and glued it on. Once I find the file, I'll post it here.
I suppose the omission of the list was an artistic decision to maintain
an understatedness on the cover. Being understated seems to be a Scottish
trait...at least the 1/8 of me that is Scots thinks so.
The production company, MGM-UA, produced a CD-ROM entitled "Rob
Roy - Legend of the Mist." As the news
relese
states, it's targeted at "film, history buffs and fans of sweeping
romantic epics. The title offers a revealing, behind-the-scenes look at
the making of the year's most thrilling love story. Exclusive interviews
are included with Neeson and Lange. ... Director Michael Caton-Jones provides
insight on the film's production, represented by more than 500 production
stills digitized and optimized for CD-ROM presentation. Digitized video
sequences from the film are also provided, as well as information about
the legends, myths and history of Scotland to put the cinematic experience
into context." I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds good.
Also check out the many video and audio clips on the official web site
media page.
Stuart Crowther has some pertinent observations on the film and other
portrayals of Scotsmen at his web
site
in Essential Scotland: "But let us look at another Hollywood example
of how Scots are portrayed, and in particular the Highlanders. Christopher
Lambert is a fine looking man, no getting away from the fact. He is also
a Frenchman, and there is no getting away from that either! In what had
to be one of the movie business's most ridiculous pieces of fantasy, in
the original Highlander movie, Christopher the Frenchman played the Scot,
joined by Sean Connery, the Scot, playing an Egyptian. With a Scots accent
of course; Sean never did see a need to change his accent for anybody."
An Austrailian descendant of Robin Roy McGregor has a few
words
correcting the history of his ancestor.