Schottische Trilogie – Meine Kindheit (1972)

Schottische Trilogie – Meine Kindheit: Directed by Bill Douglas. With Stephen Archibald, Hughie Restorick, Jean Taylor Smith, Karl Fieseler. The second part (My ain folk) of Bill Douglas’ influential trilogy harks back to his impoverished upbringing in early-’40s Scotland. Cinema was his only escape – he paid for it with the money he made from returning empty jam jars – and this escape is reflected most closely at this time of his life as an eight-year-old living on the breadline with his half-brother and sick grandmother in a poor mining village.

“When we first started watching this, I thought it was a documentary. It reminded me of Ken Loach. We watched part of u0026quot;My Childhoodu0026quot; but then needed to finish it the next evening. I had a sense of dread when we sat down to view it again. The hard cruelty and insanity of this childu0026#39;s family, and most adults except the German worker. There are moments when I was confused thinking this was Jamieu0026#39;s father, so warm were their interactions. These films are work but well worth the effort; a full meal. Reminded me of the u0026quot;pure cinemau0026quot; of Robert Bresson and u0026quot;Au Husard Balthasaru0026quot;, to some extent; good children battling the harshness of the world, and the people in it. There were times when Jamie is sitting curled up under that table or outside when I despaired he would do injury to himself. I was so hoping when he fell backward onto that coal train, he would just keep going along with it. The previous comments from the gentleman who grew up in similar circumstances in a Scottish industrial town were very moving to me. His being reminded of his own childhood is a testament to Bill Douglasu0026#39; gift of storytelling and marks these films very important indeed. The work of Terence Davies must have been influenced by Douglas, I thought of his u0026quot;Distant Voices, Still Livesu0026quot; quite a bit. There is an indictment of growing up in wartime U.K. that canu0026#39;t be ignored, and ultimately, the perils of growing up in poverty. I have to recommend the Bill Douglas Trilogy to anyone who appreciates a cinema verite film-making experience, but not for the faint of heart.”