Song Of The Day 9/29/2012: Mark Knopfler - "The Way It Always Starts"

My second-favorite film of all time is Local Hero, a 1983 film from Scottish director Bill Forsyth. It stars Peter Riegert (Boon from National Lampoon's Animal House), Burt Lancaster, Peter Capaldi (Malcolm Tucker from In The Loop and The Thick of It) and Denis Lawson (Wedge from Star Wars). My favorite film of all time? Harry And The Hendersons, of course!*

Local Hero is about a Houston oil executive named MacIntyre (Riegert) who is sent by his company's CEO (Lancaster) to survey a small fishing village on the north coast of Scotland, which the company wants to purchase and turn into an oil refinery. The CEO also tells Mac to watch the sky for any astronomical abnormalities, as he's trying to discover a comet.

I'll stop there for those who haven't seen it. I will say that I've seen this movie maybe seven or eight times, all the way through. It's possible this movie might tell you something about the way I am. Every time I see it, the final shot -- comprised of nothing more than a still of a street in the village, soundtrack music, and a sound effect -- chokes me up. Never fails.

Mark Knopfler composed the score to Local Hero. The late Gerry Rafferty of "Baker Street" fame is the vocalist on this song. I think it's about a lot of towns.



* Oh, all right, it's really Pulp Fiction.