Non è una voce di corridoio...è che finalmente si riparla di Burns in questo articolo:
About scottish producersNew film Stone of Destiny 'will make you proud to be Scottish'
Jun 18 2008 By Rick Fulton
NATIONALISTS may try to hijack new film Stone Of Destiny as a rallying cry for Scottish independence... but the producer claims it's bigger than that.
The movie, based on the true story of the Stone's theft from Westminster Abbey, has its world premiere on Saturday at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
There will also be a gala dinner hosted by First Minister Alex Salmond and attended by the SNP's star supporter, Sir Sean Connery.
But the film's producer Andrew Boswell was reluctant to see the movie as encouraging demands for independence.
He said: "Everybody will come out of this film very proud to be Scottish. But you don't have to be a Scottish nationalist to enjoy this movie.
"It's David v Goliath - the little guy overcoming the big guy. The movie doesn't knock England. It is completely feel-good. It'll make you laugh. It'll make you cry."
The last film to awaken Scottish pride in our national identity was 1995's Braveheart.
While William Wallace was played by Aussie star Mel Gibson, the film seemed to reconnect us with our past - a Tartan Army before our love of football.
Now we have our own parliament and an SNP government. Of course, a film can't change politics, especially one that's not even a blockbuster, but Andrew reckons this misses the point.
He said: "It has the potential to be as big as Braveheart in the way it connects with Scotland. But it is very different.
"Braveheart was a battle movie. It was obvious who had lost and what had been gained. Our story deals with the celebration of bringing back an icon of Scottish cultural history to Scotland. I'm Northern Irish but it makes you very proud of what these guys achieved in 1950.
"It was almost 60 years ago and shortly after World War Two. Europe was changing and a lot of boundaries were coming down. A lot of countries such as Scotland were losing their cultural identity.
"Scotland was becoming more like North Britain than a country in its own right.
"If the film does anything, it covers the issue of Scotland's own ignorance of how it was losing its cultural identity, like when Scottish kids were taught to speak with more English accents.
"That's what these guys realised and that's why they did it."
The Stone of Destiny is a 336lb block which had been used for centuries for the coronation of Scottish kings.
It was captured in 1296 by Edward I, the Hammer of the Scots, and moved from Scone Palace, near Perth, to Westminster Abbey as a spoil of war.
Since then, all British monarchs have been crowned over the Stone, which is encased in the coronation chair.
And although it was moved to Edinburgh in 1996, it is expected to be taken back to London for any future coronation.
Four students from Glasgow University decided to "repatriate" the Stone on Christmas Day 1950.
Ian Hamilton, Alan Stuart, Gavin Vernon and Kay Matheson meticulously planned their raid. Under the cover of darkness, they broke open a side-door of Westminster Abbey with a crowbar.
But the students dropped the Stone during the getaway, breaking it in two. The larger part was left in a field in Kent and the group risked road blocks on the Border to get it back to Scotland weeks later.
The Stone was repaired and on April 11, 1951, was left at the high altar of the ruined Arbroath Abbey, where the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1320.
The story caused a national sensation and the culprits weren't hard to track down. Ian has admitted that police went to the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, where he'd researched the plot, and discovered he'd taken out every book on Westminster Abbey.
The film is based on Ian's book about the raid and he will be a prominent figure at the gala screening and dinner this weekend.
Gavin died three years ago, Kay is in a Fife care home and Alan shuns publicity, although the producer claims they have at last tracked him down.
ANDREW said: "These kids achieved something remarkable in a political sense through peaceful means.
"Yes, it was a crime they broke into Westminster Abbey and stole the Stone, although Ian Hamilton will say how can you be charged for stealing something that was stolen already. But they did it peacefully.
"You don't have to go around blowing places up to get across a political point. That's important in our modern, safe world."
The film stars Londoner Charlie Cox, last seen in Stardust, as Ian Hamilton, Ciaron Kelly as Alan Stuart, Stephen McCole as Gavin Vernon and Kate Mara as Kay Matheson. Robert Carlyle plays John MacCormick, one of the founders of the SNP, Peter Mullan plays Ian's dad and Billy Boyd is Bill Craig, who joined the team after the theft.
It was directed by Charles Martin Smith, who starred alongside Sean Connery in The Untouchables as accountant Oscar Wallace.
While Charlie and Kate were coached on Scots accents, Andrew is pleased at the calibre of Scottish talent that surrounded the Englishman and the American.
He was also happy that as well as shooting the film at Glasgow University and in a flat only a couple of streets from where Ian put the plans together, they were allowed to film in Westminster Abbey, unlike blockbuster The Da Vinci Code a few years earlier.
Andrew said: "Westminster Abbey got bad press on the back of rejecting The Da Vinci Code and wanted to correct that, which was to our advantage.
"We spent two nights shooting there. There are an awful lot of dead bodies in that building. It was very spooky."
During filming, Ian visited the abbey for the first time since he had stolen the Stone. "They were very welcoming," said Andrew. "They pointed out they still had his crowbar."
The producer joked that he could do a sequel to the film about Westminster giving Scotland the crowbar back.
He is looking forward to the film's first screening in Scotland Cineworld in Fountain Park, followed by the gala dinner at the National Gallery. As well as Sir Sean, Tilda Swinton and Brian Cox are due to attend.
Andrew is also quietly confident the movie will do well. The film-maker,
who later this year is hoping to make the long-mooted film on Robert Burns with Gerard Butler, pointed out that when they showed the film in France, they were given a round of applause.He insisted: "That doesn't usually happen in market screenings because they are populated with hard-nosed film-buyers.
"So to play it to Scots who aren't involved in the movie business this Saturday will be very exciting."
ora, giungendo al trafiletto 
gli accendiamo un faro??
