Things To Do In Scotland

It's an unfortunate legacy of the modern age, but every time I see a film made with puppets I think of Being John Malkovich. The particular way in which we don't take puppets seriously has undergone a cultural shift. No longer are they the province of children's shows; now they're a warning sign of pretentious art-for-art's-sake escaped onto the screen. Things To Do In Scotland, however, goes some way toward reclaiming them with a clever gimmick (which I won't give away) and a cheap and cheerful attitude to its own presentation which makes it difficult not to like.

The puppets on display, in this case, represent assorted famous figures from Scottish history, and they're here to tell us how, like them, we can go about taking decisive political action. Specifically, this is action with regard to the plight of asylum seekers. This works well enough in the context of an anthology (such as the Visit Dungavel video on which this film appears) or as part of a festival, but the film doesn't stand very well on its own. Whilst it's quite effective at providing information about possible avenues for activism, it provides little by way of wider political or emotional context. If it appeals to our feelings at all, it makes its appeal to patriotism, a curious choice in this context, yet one which sits well with the argument that asylum seekers in Scotland, wherever the might have originated, are a significant Scottish concern. It's even suggested that helping them could be seen as a way of rejecting the impositions of the English.

As a simple, informative piece of film making, Things To Do In Scotland does a fine job; however, it is not a film which can hope to achieve much on its own merits alone.