The Bill Douglas Trilogy [DVD]

Bill Douglas: Intent on Getting the Image
A legendary Scottish filmmaker who has made only one feature and three shorts from 1972 to 1991, Bill Douglas has nevertheless drawn praise from such noted directors as François Truffaut and Satyajit Ray. In 1972, Douglas won the Best First Film award at the Venice Film Festival for his affecting documentary My Childhood, yet in the years that followed, his work would become sporadic at best. While his 1987 film Comrades earned Douglas The Independent's Film of the Year award, it was also his last film to date. In this documentary, director Andy Kimpton-Nye explores the life of a filmmaker who rose from abject poverty to become one of the most unique storytellers in the world of cinema. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

My Childhood
My Childhood is an award-winning black-and-white film which recounts director Bill Douglas' experiences as a child in Scotland during World War II. The movie was shot in the same locations he lived in as a boy. In the film, the boy lives with his half-brother and grandmother in a remote mining village. The bleakness of their lives is brightened by their friendship with a German P.O.W. This short film is the first of three dealing with director Douglas' Scottish childhood. The other two are My Ain Folk and My Way Home. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

My Ain Folk
A drama about a nine-year-old English boy who lives with his maternal grandmother. She dies, and he is sent to his paternal grandmother. The boy eventually ends up in an orphanage. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi

My Way Home
My Way Home was the third entry in a semidocumentary trilogy concocted by writer/director Bill Douglas. Filmed entirely on location in Scotland, the story concentrates on a disgruntled youth named Jamie. Hoping to escape his poverty-stricken surroundings, Jamie gets into trouble with the law, and ends up in a group home. He is finally straightened out when he joins the military. Curiously, of the three films in the "Jamie" series, My Way Home was the only one released in the US. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi