18 Greatest Scottish Films

The vote may have been no to independence, but say "yes" to these amazing films.

By Chris OMalley /

With Scotland voting to remain a part of the United Kingdom on the historic Referendum day of 18th September, it seems a fitting time to look at some of the country€™s finest contributions to our culture and British cinema. Whilst Braveheart is clearly the film that most people worldwide would immediately associate with Scotland, Mel Gibson's William Wallace epic does not find its way onto this list due to it it being entirely financed by American money, written and directed by an Australian, produced by an American and largely shot in Ireland. Aside from that it is also nice to take the opportunity to shine a light on those great Scottish films that aren€™t Braveheart, and actually have a claim to being Scottish cultural products outside the setting for the story. Scotland may have given cinema a James Bond and an Obi Wan Kenobi but as you will see it has also given us some of the greatest and uncompromising British films, which cast a light on the socio-political issues that pervade this country. It isn't all doom and gloom though, in addition to having a social conscience Scotland also knows how to have a laugh and entertain, so in amongst the weightier material you'll find some of the funniest and heartwarming films this island has ever produced.

18. Small Faces (1996)

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Not a biopic of the Mod legends but instead a look at the notorious Glasgow knife gang the Tongs, that ran in the Calton area of the city in the 60s. Small Faces was released in the slipstream of Trainspotting but it was actually completed before, and its probably fair to say that the success of Danny Boyle's film had a knock on effect - raising the status of the BBC co-production to theatrical status and a more widely publicised release. This is no bad thing as Small Faces is a tight, well observed passage of rites gang flick, which bar the odd inconsistency, and a decidedly TV drama aesthetic, does a decent job of capturing this violent period in Glasgow's history. Kevin McKidd, who had just been introduced to audiences as Trainspotting's Tommy, plays Malky the leader of the Tongs, and in a subversion of Trainspotting, the closest the film has to a Begbie character.