Just a Rock In The Sea

The Edge of the World (1937)

This terrific little film is so completely different than almost everything Hollyweird was putting out in the years leading up to World War II. Based on a true story, we're given a view of life on a tiny island in the North Atlantic that is facing its demise. The island is Hirta which is part of the St. Kilda archipelago off the western coast of Scotland. Sheer cliffs rise dramatically from the sea below while life on top carries on in a very simple way compared to what exists in the outside world. Unfortunately, civilization here, for the most part, came to an end in the early 1930's. The last remaining few dozen residents evacuated to mainland Scotland.

After I finished watching the movie and doing a little research, I found out that St. Kilda today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and probably ranks fairly high amongst the least visited places in the world. Automatically it's been elevated on my list of places I most wanna visit (as well as the Shetland island of Foula where The Edge of the World was filmed.) Gobs of tourists? Trouble with pickpockets? Gotta worry about exchanging currency? None of that. Just a few surviving archeological sites on a rock in the ocean.