Local Hero

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has me thinking of movies with an environmental theme. One of the best, and one of my all-time favorite movies in general, is 'Local Hero', the 1983 fable directed by Bill Forsyth with Burt Lancaster and Peter Riegert.

The story concerns an oil company exec, MacIntyre (Reigert), sent to the village of Ferness on the west coast of Scotland to buy up all the property so an oil refinery can be built there. He is a corporate shark on a mission: fleece the local bumpkins of their land.

MacIntyre is jaded, just another cynical man whose sensibilities have been dulled by modern life. But, as the story progresses he drinks in the idyllic landscape surrounding Ferness and is practically intoxicated by the quiet power he is surrounded by -- the surge and flow of the sea, the awe inspiring spectacle of the Northern Lights -- so that by the end the story he has become enchanted and wonders whether putting an oil refinery in such a location is the right thing.

One of the over-arching themes of 'Local Hero' is that mankind is blind to nature's fragility and uses natural resources without regard for the impact to the environment or future generations, both human and animal. In a scene I've always remembered, MacIntyre is attempting to make a deal with a local eccentric that lives on the beach, Ben Knox, played by Fulton McKay.



It's all too easy to blame an oil company for the tragedy that has befallen the Gulf, but we should remember who is truly culpable here. It's the consumer. Us. We're the ones who demand oil to power our cars. We're the ones who encourage companies to drill for oil in the middle of the ocean. We're the ones who have lost touch.

Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

It was the underlying truth in 'Local Hero' and it's true today -- we have lost touch with nature and live without regard to our impact on the ecosystem. Ben Knox knew MacIntyre had no clue when it comes to the nature of things. His offer to sell his beach in exchange for a 'pound for every grain of sand in my hand' was his way of driving the point home. MacIntyre was prepared to pay almost anything, but the notion of a 'pound per grain' terrified him. Is it a billion grains? A trillion? He has no clue. MacIntyre had become a shark with no teeth.

Photograph (below): Joe Raedle/Getty Images