Comic book writer Mark Millar talked to STV about Miracle Park, the Scottish super-hero movie he wrote and is directing.
Millar said the following:
"I didn’t want to do a Scottish movie in the sense that it was shortbread and kilts and all that kind of stuff. I wanted it to feel Scottish in the same way that Goodfellas feels like it’s made in America. It’s unmistakably Scottish without ramming it down your throat.
"But the big thing I wanted to do with Miracle Park was something that I changed the minute that I started filming, it was really odd. When I announced I was doing it my idea was to do something that was a wee bit rough around the edges and a little bit more Trainspotting-y, and something really struck me. In all the newspapers they were saying ‘Are the heroes going to be Buckfast-Man’, and I just thought ‘Hang on for a minute, what are we doing?’"
"I didn’t rewrite the story, but I rewrote the tone slightly. I thought that it was quite odd that there’s self-deprecation, and there’s self-loathing. To represent your country all the time as being the scum of the earth I think is a bit weird. I had a wee moment of clarity where I just thought ‘We’ve got to stop this, this is crazy."
Millar added:
"I want the place to look good in it, and for the thing in a weird way to be an advert for Scotland, because we’ve got some beautiful buildings and great locations. I love the idea of a fight scene in the Clyde or in the Highlands."