Stone of Destiny (film)
Encyclopedia
Stone of Destiny is a 2008
British
-Canadian adventure
/comedy
film directed by Charles Martin Smith
. It stars Charlie Cox
, Billy Boyd, Robert Carlyle
, Kate Mara
and Brenda Fricker
.
The film is based on real events and tells the story of the theft of the Stone of Scone
on Christmas Day, 1950. The stone, supposedly the pillow stone
used by Jacob
in the Bible
and the stone over which Scottish Kings were traditionally crowned at Scone
in Perthshire
, was seized by the English King Edward I
in 1296 and placed under the throne at Westminster Abbey
in London
. In 1950, a nationalist plot succeeded in removing it from Westminster Abbey and returning it to Scotland
where it was placed symbolically at Arbroath Abbey
, the site of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath
and an important site in the Scottish nationalist cause.
Other cast members include Peter Mullan
, Rab Affleck, Bryan Lowe, Ciaron Kelly, and Stephen McCole
. Filming began in June 2007 in locations including Westminster Abbey
, the University of Glasgow
, Ayr
and Paisley
including Film City studio and Arbroath Abbey
. The film was premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival
in Fountainbridge
, Edinburgh
, Scotland on June 21, 2008. The film closed the 33rd Annual Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2008; and was presented at The Hampton's International Film Festival in the US; a wider release is set for late 2008.
), the protagonist and an ardent member of the Scottish nationalist organization, the Scottish Covenant Association
, is very angry at what he sees as the political and economic subjugation of Scotland by England, and is sad that Scots are somewhat ashamed to be Scottish (symbolised by the description of Scotland as "North Britain" in, for example, a pub mirror shown in the film). After a petition to the British Parliament for the establishment of Scottish home rule
is rejected, he decides to perform a symbolic act to put heart into the movement. With his friend, Bill Craig (Billy Boyd
) he creates a daring scheme to bring the Stone of Destiny
(a.k.a. the Stone of Scone) back to Scotland from Westminster Abbey
in London, where it has resided for centuries following English military victories over the Scots in the Middle Ages
.
They research the Abbey and plan the theft, but once Bill realizes that Ian is serious about liberating the stone, he backs out. So Ian decides to liberate the stone by himself. Before he leaves, he goes to see John MacCormick
, a prominent campaigner for Scottish devolution (played by Robert Carlyle
) to ask for funds for basic necessities. Although MacCormick initially refuses to take Hamilton's proposal and the request for a mere 50 pounds to finance the attempt seriously, he reconsiders. Later, at a party, he refers Ian to Kay Matheson (Kate Mara
), a girl with strong Nationalist ideas, to help him retrieve the stone. After meeting Kay, she soon introduces him to Gavin (Stephen McCole
), a strong young man who is known mainly for drinking too much. On the day of their departure for London, Gavin unexpectedly brings his shy friend Alan (Ciaron Kelly) along with him. Ian is against involving Alan, but Gavin convinces him that Alan's ownership of a car will make him an asset to the group. He quickly is integrated into their trust.
They arrive the day before Christmas Eve and spontaneously decide to try to steal the stone that night, but are discovered by the watchman. He believes Ian is a homeless man, and lets him go. While they are in London scouting out the Abbey, Kay falls ill from the cold, and Ian brings her to a bed & breakfast inn (claiming that she is his sister and that, in spite of their strong Scottish accents, they are from Shrewsbury in England). The landlady is suspicious and phones the police, who likewise suspect the young Scots of being up to something, but their belief that they are car thieves is one that Ian and Kay manage to disprove.
After a suspenseful night, with many upsets along the way, the group manage to retrieve the stone from Westminster Abbey. They fear they have inadvertently split it in the process, but then see that the original split had been made long ago and merely patched. They at first hide it in a field, and later return to retrieve it with the aid of a traveller group camped in the field. Meawhile, many in Scotland jubilantly treat the news of the stone's abduction as a nationalist triumph. After having the two parts of the stone reattached, the group return it to the authorities at the symbolically significant site of Arbroath Abbey
. They are arrested and charged, but never prosecuted.
The final titles on screen point out that though the Stone is now in Scotland, it is only 'on loan' and will return to Westminster for the next Coronation
.
, "This unabashedly sentimental and outright anti-English pic is stodgy as a cheap haggis with nationalistic sentimentality", The Guardian
, "A wee-dram-and-bagpipes invitation to a mythical Scotland of yesteryear", Channel 4
, "A woeful slice of sentimental whimsy that makes Braveheart look like a documentary."
The £6m movie took just £140,000 in the three weeks subsequent to release, in the UK.
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
British
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
-Canadian adventure
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
/comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
film directed by Charles Martin Smith
Charles Martin Smith
Charles Martin Smith is an American film actor, writer, and director.-Early life:Smith was born in Van Nuys, California. His father, Frank Smith, was a film cartoonist and animator, while his uncle Paul J. Smith was an animator as well as a director for the Walter Lantz Studios...
. It stars Charlie Cox
Charlie Cox
Charlie Cox is an English actor.-Life and career:Cox, the youngest of five children, was born in London, England and raised in East Sussex, the son of Trisha and Andrew, who is a publisher...
, Billy Boyd, Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor. He is known for a variety of roles including those in Trainspotting, Hamish Macbeth, The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes, The 51st State, and 28 Weeks Later...
, Kate Mara
Kate Mara
Kate Mara is an American television and film actress. Beginning acting in her hometown of Bedford, New York, she moved from the stage to her first film, Random Hearts...
and Brenda Fricker
Brenda Fricker
Brenda Fricker is an Irish actress of theatre, film and television. She had appeared in more than 30 films and television roles...
.
The film is based on real events and tells the story of the theft of the Stone of Scone
Stone of Scone
The Stone of Scone , also known as the Stone of Destiny and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone, is an oblong block of red sandstone, used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland and later the monarchs of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom...
on Christmas Day, 1950. The stone, supposedly the pillow stone
Jacob's Pillow-Pillar Stone
The Stone of Jacob appears in the Book of Genesis as the stone used as a pillow by the Israelite patriarch Jacob at the place later called Bet-El. As Jacob had a vision in his sleep, he then consecrated the stone to God...
used by Jacob
Jacob
Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and the stone over which Scottish Kings were traditionally crowned at Scone
Scone, Scotland
Scone is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The medieval village of Scone, which grew up around the monastery and royal residence, was abandoned in the early 19th century when the residents were removed and a new palace was built on the site by the Earl of Mansfield...
in Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
, was seized by the English King Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
in 1296 and placed under the throne at Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1950, a nationalist plot succeeded in removing it from Westminster Abbey and returning it to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
where it was placed symbolically at Arbroath Abbey
Arbroath Abbey
Arbroath Abbey, in the Scottish town of Arbroath, was founded in 1178 by King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to the deceased Saint Thomas Becket, whom the king had met at the English court...
, the site of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath
Declaration of Arbroath
The Declaration of Arbroath is a declaration of Scottish independence, made in 1320. It is in the form of a letter submitted to Pope John XXII, dated 6 April 1320, intended to confirm Scotland's status as an independent, sovereign state and defending Scotland's right to use military action when...
and an important site in the Scottish nationalist cause.
Other cast members include Peter Mullan
Peter Mullan
Peter Mullan is a Scottish actor and film-maker who has been appearing in films since 1990.-Early life:Mullan, the sixth of eight children, was born in Peterhead in the northeast of Scotland, the son of Patricia, a nurse, and Charles Mullan, a lab technician who worked at Glasgow University. He...
, Rab Affleck, Bryan Lowe, Ciaron Kelly, and Stephen McCole
Stephen McCole
Stephen McCole is a Scottish actor. McCole plays the leading role in the television black comedy High Times. McCole portrays Rab, an unemployed stoner who lives with his family in a bleak high-rise flat in Glasgow. The series, which received the 2004 BAFTA Scotland Best Drama Award, also features...
. Filming began in June 2007 in locations including Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
, Ayr
Ayr
Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...
and Paisley
Paisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
including Film City studio and Arbroath Abbey
Arbroath Abbey
Arbroath Abbey, in the Scottish town of Arbroath, was founded in 1178 by King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to the deceased Saint Thomas Becket, whom the king had met at the English court...
. The film was premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival
Edinburgh International Film Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival is an annual fortnight of cinema screenings and related events taking place each June. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival...
in Fountainbridge
Fountainbridge
Fountainbridge is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, a short distance west of the city centre, adjoining Tollcross to the east, Bruntsfield to the south, Dalry to the west and Haymarket to the north....
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland on June 21, 2008. The film closed the 33rd Annual Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2008; and was presented at The Hampton's International Film Festival in the US; a wider release is set for late 2008.
Plot
Ian Hamilton (actor Charlie CoxCharlie Cox
Charlie Cox is an English actor.-Life and career:Cox, the youngest of five children, was born in London, England and raised in East Sussex, the son of Trisha and Andrew, who is a publisher...
), the protagonist and an ardent member of the Scottish nationalist organization, the Scottish Covenant Association
Scottish Covenant Association
The Scottish Covenant Association was a non-partisan political organisation in Scotland in the 1940s and 1950s seeking to establish a devolved Scottish Assembly...
, is very angry at what he sees as the political and economic subjugation of Scotland by England, and is sad that Scots are somewhat ashamed to be Scottish (symbolised by the description of Scotland as "North Britain" in, for example, a pub mirror shown in the film). After a petition to the British Parliament for the establishment of Scottish home rule
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
is rejected, he decides to perform a symbolic act to put heart into the movement. With his friend, Bill Craig (Billy Boyd
Billy Boyd
Billy Boyd is a Scottish actor and musician most widely known for playing the character Peregrin "Pippin" Took in the film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and Barret Bonden in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World....
) he creates a daring scheme to bring the Stone of Destiny
Stone of Scone
The Stone of Scone , also known as the Stone of Destiny and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone, is an oblong block of red sandstone, used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland and later the monarchs of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom...
(a.k.a. the Stone of Scone) back to Scotland from Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
in London, where it has resided for centuries following English military victories over the Scots in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
They research the Abbey and plan the theft, but once Bill realizes that Ian is serious about liberating the stone, he backs out. So Ian decides to liberate the stone by himself. Before he leaves, he goes to see John MacCormick
John MacCormick
John MacDonald MacCormick was a lawyer and advocate of Home Rule in Scotland.-Early life:...
, a prominent campaigner for Scottish devolution (played by Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor. He is known for a variety of roles including those in Trainspotting, Hamish Macbeth, The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes, The 51st State, and 28 Weeks Later...
) to ask for funds for basic necessities. Although MacCormick initially refuses to take Hamilton's proposal and the request for a mere 50 pounds to finance the attempt seriously, he reconsiders. Later, at a party, he refers Ian to Kay Matheson (Kate Mara
Kate Mara
Kate Mara is an American television and film actress. Beginning acting in her hometown of Bedford, New York, she moved from the stage to her first film, Random Hearts...
), a girl with strong Nationalist ideas, to help him retrieve the stone. After meeting Kay, she soon introduces him to Gavin (Stephen McCole
Stephen McCole
Stephen McCole is a Scottish actor. McCole plays the leading role in the television black comedy High Times. McCole portrays Rab, an unemployed stoner who lives with his family in a bleak high-rise flat in Glasgow. The series, which received the 2004 BAFTA Scotland Best Drama Award, also features...
), a strong young man who is known mainly for drinking too much. On the day of their departure for London, Gavin unexpectedly brings his shy friend Alan (Ciaron Kelly) along with him. Ian is against involving Alan, but Gavin convinces him that Alan's ownership of a car will make him an asset to the group. He quickly is integrated into their trust.
They arrive the day before Christmas Eve and spontaneously decide to try to steal the stone that night, but are discovered by the watchman. He believes Ian is a homeless man, and lets him go. While they are in London scouting out the Abbey, Kay falls ill from the cold, and Ian brings her to a bed & breakfast inn (claiming that she is his sister and that, in spite of their strong Scottish accents, they are from Shrewsbury in England). The landlady is suspicious and phones the police, who likewise suspect the young Scots of being up to something, but their belief that they are car thieves is one that Ian and Kay manage to disprove.
After a suspenseful night, with many upsets along the way, the group manage to retrieve the stone from Westminster Abbey. They fear they have inadvertently split it in the process, but then see that the original split had been made long ago and merely patched. They at first hide it in a field, and later return to retrieve it with the aid of a traveller group camped in the field. Meawhile, many in Scotland jubilantly treat the news of the stone's abduction as a nationalist triumph. After having the two parts of the stone reattached, the group return it to the authorities at the symbolically significant site of Arbroath Abbey
Arbroath Abbey
Arbroath Abbey, in the Scottish town of Arbroath, was founded in 1178 by King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to the deceased Saint Thomas Becket, whom the king had met at the English court...
. They are arrested and charged, but never prosecuted.
The final titles on screen point out that though the Stone is now in Scotland, it is only 'on loan' and will return to Westminster for the next Coronation
Coronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally crowned and invested with regalia...
.
Cast
- Charlie CoxCharlie CoxCharlie Cox is an English actor.-Life and career:Cox, the youngest of five children, was born in London, England and raised in East Sussex, the son of Trisha and Andrew, who is a publisher...
as Ian HamiltonIan HamiltonIan Michael "Chico" Hamilton is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder. He made more than 300 appearances in the Football League playing for Chelsea, Southend United, Aston Villa and Sheffield United, and more than 100 in the North American Soccer League for Minnesota Kicks and... - Kate MaraKate MaraKate Mara is an American television and film actress. Beginning acting in her hometown of Bedford, New York, she moved from the stage to her first film, Random Hearts...
as Kay Matheson - Robert CarlyleRobert CarlyleRobert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor. He is known for a variety of roles including those in Trainspotting, Hamish Macbeth, The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes, The 51st State, and 28 Weeks Later...
as John MacCormickJohn MacCormickJohn MacDonald MacCormick was a lawyer and advocate of Home Rule in Scotland.-Early life:... - Billy Boyd as Bill Craig
- Stephen McColeStephen McColeStephen McCole is a Scottish actor. McCole plays the leading role in the television black comedy High Times. McCole portrays Rab, an unemployed stoner who lives with his family in a bleak high-rise flat in Glasgow. The series, which received the 2004 BAFTA Scotland Best Drama Award, also features...
as Gavin Vernon - Ciaron Kelly as Alan Stuart
- Peter MullanPeter MullanPeter Mullan is a Scottish actor and film-maker who has been appearing in films since 1990.-Early life:Mullan, the sixth of eight children, was born in Peterhead in the northeast of Scotland, the son of Patricia, a nurse, and Charles Mullan, a lab technician who worked at Glasgow University. He...
as Ian's Father - Brenda FrickerBrenda FrickerBrenda Fricker is an Irish actress of theatre, film and television. She had appeared in more than 30 films and television roles...
as Mrs. McQuarry - Juliet CadzowJuliet CadzowShould We Go Home Elizabeth Smith2011 Fast RomanceGabriella Catalano2009 New Town Mrs Showalter2008 Stone of DestinyIan's Mother2007 Wedding Belles Kelly's Ma2006 Still Game Conductress / Gorgeous woman...
as Ian's mother
Critical reception and box office
Critical response to the film was mixed: Canadian Film, "A heartwarming triumph for the human spirit. For the non-English, a powerful tale of courage, pride, and the innocence of youth", VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, "This unabashedly sentimental and outright anti-English pic is stodgy as a cheap haggis with nationalistic sentimentality", The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, "A wee-dram-and-bagpipes invitation to a mythical Scotland of yesteryear", Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, "A woeful slice of sentimental whimsy that makes Braveheart look like a documentary."
The £6m movie took just £140,000 in the three weeks subsequent to release, in the UK.