Bonnie Prince Charlie Film commences Location Scouting

We are continuing our Location scouting in Dumfries and Galloway and this week I had the great surprise of visiting a hilltop where a large wall had been built in World War 2 for the Dam-buster pilots to practise their missions. A fascinating artefact that remains as a monument to their work. At a time when V Day celebrations are occurring it seemed apt. The first of film workshops in Jacobite film fighting techniques, run by Seoras Wallace, will begin at the end of the month. In the meantime here is an article from the Telegraph, as a way of welcoming our composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who has joined the team.

Article from the Telegraph in Full below

The Queen's former composer has been tempted back to write his first film score in 40 years, for a new drama about Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who has recently retired from the post of Master of the Queen’s Music, is to write the music for a film about Bonnie Prince Charlie, which will include the biggest battle scene ever shot in Scotland.

It is the first movie music Sir Peter, who lives on Orkney, has composed since he worked on Ken Russell's 1971s films The Devils and The Boyfriend ,which between them starred Oliver Reed, Vanessa Redgrave and Twiggy.

Sir Peter is currently working on a new children's opera for the London Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic, to be conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, based on an Orcadian sea monster.

He will also write the movie soundtrack for The Great Getaway.

The film will be set in part in Dumfries and Galloway, where the Battle of Culloden will be shot for the new £6.5m film.

It will star Peter Mullan, who previously appeared in My Name is Joe, War Horse and Neds, and Brendan Gleeson, who starred in Braveheart, Gangs of New York and the Harry Potter films.

^{Bonnie Prince Charlie}

The part of Flora MacDonald, who helped the Young Pretender escape to Skye, is rumoured to have been offered to Kristen Stewart, who played Bella Swan in the internationally successful Twilight films.

The prince has not yet been cast.

Sir Peter, who is now 80, said: "I have been offered the chance to write several film scores over the years since The Devils and The Boyfriend, but this is the first one since then that I have been inspired to accept.

"I just loved the script - its authenticity, passion and honesty. Bonnie Prince Charlie is an iconic figure surrounded by myth and to have the chance to capture his character and seminal events in music for the big screen was too good a chance to pass up."

Director Robbie Moffat met Sir Peter - known as 'Max' - in London to seal the deal.

^{Peter Mullan in Channel 4’s ‘The Fear’ (Channel 4)}

"To have one of the world's greatest composers on board is a real coup. I think Max's music is the perfect match for the film and its atmospheric and honest portryal.

"Max has a real sense of the themes of inextricably people caught up in history - of time and place - of events that have shaped today and the future. His music is made for this movie and we cannot wait to hear the results - we are sure the score will be memorable, evocative and moving."

Filming on The Great Getaway will begin in the summer with the battle scene involving more than 500 extras.

The battle will be constructed by Seoras Wallace, who shot to fame when he directed the fight scenes in Braveheart. He has worked on more than 100 major films including Gladiator and Saving Private Ryan.

The new film is the first major movie about Charles Edward Stuart since Bonnie Prince Charlie, the 1948 production starring David Niven and Margaret Leighton.