Scottish cinema has been concerned with a number of distinct issues, both historically and in the present. The main issue which it has been concerned with, however, is the representation of Scotland and its history.

By far the most important work which has been done on the subject was the 1982 Scotch Reels conference at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. The contributors to the conference identified three kinds of representation which most images of Scotland fell into. These three categories were:

 

Tartanry was based upon the romantic image of Scotland, or as critics would describe it the "shortbread tin" image of Scotland. This romantic image was based largely on the novels of Sir Walter Scott. These novels were set around the time of the Jacobite rebellion in 1745. This is when Charles Edward Stuart, or Bonnie Prince Charlie, a descendant of King James the VI landed in Scotland and led a rebellion to overthrow King George the III. The rebellion was eventually crushed at the battle of Culloden, when the Jacobite army, mostly made up of Highland clansmen, was defeated by government forces from the lowlands of Scotland led by the Duke of Cumberland. In the wake of the rebellion the government banned many symbols of Highland identity such as the wearing of the kilt and the playing of bagpipes.

In an attempt to preserve some of Scotland's Highland culture Sir Walter Scott wrote about the rebellion in his novels, which presented the Highlander as a kind of noble savage. It was eventually through Scott's efforts that the ban on Tartan and other symbols of Highland culture was lifted.

The picture which Scott painted of Highland life, however, was not entirely accurate. What he was attempting to do was capture a way of life which had already largely disappeared. One example of Scott's poetic licence was his invention of the idea of clan tartans. Scott came up with this idea when he persuaded King George to travel to Edinburgh and find out what Scottish culture was really like. Scott decided that in order for the King to tell the different clans apart each clan would wear a different tartan. Historically no such thing as a clan tartan existed, different tartans being associated with the different areas which produced them.

In creating certain myths about Scottish history many people believe that what Scott was doing was presenting a sanitised version of history which placed any idea of Scottish independence or political struggle firmly in the past. Since Scott largely invented many images which we now associate with the Scotland of the past these images have little or nothing to do with how modern Scots see themselves. Nevertheless these images still provide the basis for how other cultures see Scotland. In many cases Scot themselves have used these images to present Scotland, one famous example being Sir Harry Lauder.

What the Scotch Reels critics argued was that such representations, which formed the basis for a great deal of early films about Scotland and which can still be seen in films such as Rob Roy (1995) and Braveheart (1994), are not true representations of Scottish history or of where Scotland currently stands. By romanticising history the discourse of Tartanry effectively negates any chance of understanding Scotland as existing in a political present.

"Kailyard" is a Scots word which literally means "cabbage patch". It was used to describe a genre of Scottish literature produced by writers such as J. M. Barrie (author of Peter Pan ) and Ian McLaren. In the kailyard novel Scotland is seen as a parochial country made up entirely of small towns. The people who live in these communities have little interest in what goes on in the rest of the world. The central characters of such novels are often church ministers or other prominent members of a small local community such as the "dominie" (school teacher) or doctor, and they describe to the reader a community which is based upon local intrigue and homespun wisdom.

Like the discourse of Tartanry Kailyard fiction makes no attempt to engage with the realities of modern life. In film such a discourse is present in Hollywood films such as The Little Minister (1934), Bonnie Scotland (1935), and Wee Willie Winkie (1937). It is also present in British films such as Whisky Galore ! (1949), Laxdale Hall (1953), The Maggie (1954) and Rockets Galore (1958).

These films are based upon the sudden intrusion of modern life into a small rural Scottish community. Such intrusion often takes the form of city dwellers or people from the mainland (in the case of island communities) there to represent big business or the government. These characters are often foiled in their plans by the canny locals, or change their plans after falling in love with both the local community and a particular member of that community. The Scotch Reels critics argued that such representations are fantasies where economically and politically powerless villagers are able to defeat the forces of government and big business thanks to their native cunning and charm. Again such representations have little to do with the realities of modern Scottish life.

The third discourse which the critics identified was the discourse of "Clydesideism". This kind of film did deal with the realities of modern life, generally being set in and around Glasgow at the height of the shipbuilding industry in the 1940s and 1950s. This genre defined Scotland as being a world dominated by working class male labour. While these representations were more positive, in that they attempted to deal with contemporary urban issues, the political aspects of such films were usually obscured by melodramatic subplots of family conflict. Films such as Red Ensign (1934), Shipyard Sally (1939), The Shipbuilders (1943) and Floodtide (1949) are all notable representations of the place of industrial labour in Scotland.

While many people have subsequently criticised the Scotch Reels analysis of representations of Scotland it still provides a very important starting point for debates around the issue.

There are also a number of other interesting topics which you may wish to consider. These include: