Culloden

Synopsis

“Watkins’s first film for the BBC, Culloden is an historical reconstruction of the last battle fought on British soil and the ensuing destruction of the Scottish highland clans after the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. Praised by critics for its graphic realism and cinéma-vérité style (it uses hand-held cameras, interviews with soldiers and warriors on the battlefield, nonprofessional actors), the film has even been employed by the U.S. Army for a course in military history. For Watkins, however, the film’s acute realism is a weakness, allowing viewers a comfortable distance from the truly disturbing issues being raised: an underlying commentary on Vietnam, imperialism, and so-called "documentary" journalistic practices.” – Harvard Film Archive

"Culloden was filmed in August 1964, near Inverness, with an all-amateur cast from London and the Scottish Lowlands playing the royalist forces, and people from Inverness in the clan army. With photographer Dick Bush, recordists John Gatland and Hou Hanks, make-up artist Ann Brodie, battle co-ordinator Derek Ware, film editor Michael Bradsell, and with the help of friends and actors from ‘Playcraft’ in Canterbury, we made and edited our film as though it was happening in front of news cameras, and deliberately reminiscent of scenes from Vietnam which were appearing on TV at that time." – Peter Watkins