Culloden (film)

Culloden
The title card
Written by	Peter Watkins
Directed by	Peter Watkins
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original languages	English Scottish Gaelic
Production
Cinematography	Dick Bush
Editor	Michael Bradsell
Running time	69 minutes
Production company	BBC
Original release
Network	BBC
Release	15 December 1964 (1964-12-15)

Culloden (known as The Battle of Culloden in the U.S.) is a 1964 docudrama written and directed by Peter Watkins for BBC TV. It depicts the 1746 Battle of Culloden, the final engagement of the Jacobite rising of 1745 which saw the Jacobite Army be decisively defeated by government troops and in the words of the narrator "tore apart forever the clan system of the Scottish Highlands." Described in its opening credits as "an account of one of the most mishandled and brutal battles ever fought in Britain," Culloden was hailed as a breakthrough for its presentation of a historical event in the style of modern TV war reporting, as well as its use of non-professional actors. The film was based on John Prebble's study of the battle.

Synopsis

The story begins on April 16, 1746 at Culloden Moor in Scotland. The Highlander Jacobite army of rebellion less than 5000 men under the leadership of Charles Edward Stuart is expecting an English army of 9000 men under the leadership of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. The Jacobite army is hungry and exhausted, and many of the soliders are forced into service by the Highlander clan-system. The English army has the numerical advantage, better training, and the plain battlefield is well suited for their cavalry and artillery.

The Jacobites start the battle with artillery-fire, which does not reach the English lines. The English fire roundshot in return, which causes great harm to the rebel lines. Charles orders not to attack in order to tempt the English into advancing. After 29 minutes of shelling, Charles gives the order to advance. The Highlander lines attack with great force, but takes heavy losses from English grapeshot, crossfire, and new bayonet maneuver. As the rebel army retreats from the moor, two small Irish units of 150 men stand their ground, but is cut down by the English cavalry. Charles Stewart and his generals retreat from the battlefield.

The battle is a clear victory for the English with only 50 casualities, while the Jacobite army have lost 1200 men. In the aftermath nearly 100 scots are butchered or maimed on the road to Inverness, the Highlander capital. The English inprisons, execute or transports much of what remains of the Jacobite army to the colonies. Charles Stewart refuses to stay and fight, believing the scots have betrayed him. He dismissed the Highland army, take their funds with him, and leaves Scotland forever after a 5-month long manhunt. The battle of Colloden was followed by a long and brutal campaign by the English and Lowlender Scots in order to passify the Scottish highlands. This was followed with supression of Highlander culture for many years to come.

Production

Culloden was Watkins's first full-length film. It was also his first use of his docudrama style in which actors portray historical characters being interviewed by filmmakers on the scene as though it were happening in front of news cameras. The film was produced on a low budget, with only a handful of extras and a single cannon. Watkins made use of carefully planned camera angles to give the appearance of an army.

Watkins also "wanted to break through the conventional use of professional actors in historical melodramas, with the comfortable avoidance of reality that these provide, and to use amateurs—ordinary people—in a reconstruction of their own history." He accordingly used an all-amateur cast from London and the Scottish Lowlands for the Hanoverian forces, and people from Inverness for the Jacobite army. This later became a central technique of Watkins's filmmaking.

According to an estimate by the cinematographer for the film, Dick Bush, about 85% of all camerawork in Culloden was hand-held. This cinéma vérité-style shooting gave an already gritty reality a sense of present action. Culloden looked like a documentary of an event that occurred long before the film camera was invented.

Reception

Culloden won in 1965 both a Society of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) TV Award for Specialised Programmes and the British Screenwriters' Award of Merit. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, Culloden was placed 64th. Writing for Eye for Film, Amber Wilkinson praised Culloden, commenting that "the mastery of [Watkins's] direction is obvious from first to last".

Production crew

• Production design – Anne Davey, Colin MacLeod, Brendon Woods
• Makeup artist – Ann Brodie
• Sound department – John Gatland, Lou Hanks
• Production unit – Rodney Barnes, Valerie Booth, Roger Higham, Jennifer Howie, Michael Powell
• Historical advisor – John Prebble
• Production unit – Geraldine Proudfoot, Geoff Sanders
• Battle coordinator – Derek Ware

See also

• Drama documentary
• Insurrection (1966 TV series)
• The Highlanders (1966 Doctor Who serial)
• Chasing the Deer (1994 film)

Further reading

• John Prebble, Culloden (Secker & Warburg 1961 – Atheneum 1962).
• Peter Watkins' commentary on his first BBC documentary
• Notes on 'Culloden' from Peter Watkin's website
• Culloden, "Background and Context", British Film Institute
• Culloden entry in the BFI TV-100, 2000 list

External links

• Culloden at IMDb