''Venus Peter'' is a 1989 British film directed by Ian Sellar and produced by Christopher Young for Young films. The film is an adaptation of the novel ''A Twelvemonth and a Day'' by Christopher Rush. It was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. It was filmed on the Orkney Islands, in the North of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The film crew paid members of the Orkney community to act as extras in the film. In 1999 Richard Mowe, curator of film at the

National Museum of Scotland The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum (opened in ...

, chose the film as one of his top twenty Scottish films of the century.Richard Mowe
Top 20 Scottish films of the 20th Century
iofilm Scotland, August 1999 Japanese rock band Venus Peter are named after the film.

Plot

The film is set on a western isle of Scotland in the 1950s and follows young Peter and his relationship in the mainly adult world of the fishing village and his relationship with the sea and fishing boats (foremost of which is Kirkcaldy-registered KY199). The most important relationship is between Peter and his fisherman grandfather.

Cast

* George Anton as Billy * Louise Breslin as Leebie *

Juliet Cadzow Juliet Cadzow is a Scottish film and television actress. She played Edie McCredie in the children's television series ''Balamory'', Suzie Fraser in BBC series ''River City'' and various roles in BBC series '' Still Game''. In '' Still Game' ...

as Princess Paloma *

Peter Caffrey Peter Caffrey (18 April 1949 – 1 January 2008) was an Irish actor best known for playing Padraig O'Kelly on Series 1-4 of ''Ballykissangel'' and Christy Barry on Bracken. He was also known for playing the role of the Eurosong selection ju ...

as Father *

Sinéad Cusack Sinéad Moira Cusack ( ) is an Irish actress. Her first acting roles were at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, before moving to London in 1969 to join the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has won the Critics' Circle and ''Evening Standard'' Awards f ...

as Miss Balsilbie * Emma Dingwall as Jenny * Ken Drury as Gowans *

Christopher Fairbank Christopher Fairbank (born 4 October 1953) is an English film, stage and television actor. Career In 2010, he appeared as a detective in ''Five Daughters ''Five Daughters'' is a British television drama miniseries starring Ian Hart, Sar ...

as Blind man * Cecil Garson as Gollie *

David Hayman David Hayman (born 9 February 1948) is a Scottish film, television and stage actor and director, known for his role as DCS Mike Walker in ITV drama ''Trial & Retribution'', as Jonas Franks in BBC period drama '' The Paradise'' and as Brace i ...

as Kinnear * Sam Hayman as Baby Peter *

Scott Heddle Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saskat ...

as Peem * Ray Jeffries as Bank manager *

Sheila Keith Sheila Keith (9 June 1920 – 14 October 2004) was a British character actress, active in theatre, films and TV. She was born to Scottish parents in London while they were visiting the city and brought up in Aberdeen, Scotland. Longing to act, ...

as Epp *

Mary MacLeod Mary Macleod (born 4 January 1969) is a British Conservative Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentford and Isleworth from the 2010 general election until the 2015 general election, when she was defeated by Ruth C ...

as Miss Sangster *

Ray McAnally Ray McAnally (30 March 1926 – 15 June 1989) was an Irish actor. He was the recipient of three BAFTA Awards in the late 1980s: two BAFTA Film Awards for Best Supporting Actor (for ''The Mission'' in 1986 and ''My Left Foot'' in 1989), and ...

as Grandpa *

Alex McAvoy Alex McAvoy (10 March 1928 – 16 June 2005) was a Scottish actor known for his roles as Sunny Jim in the BBC Scotland adaptation of Neil Munro's Para Handy stories, ''The Vital Spark'', and as the teacher in Pink Floyd's musical film, ''The W ...

as Beadle * Robin McCaffrey as Georgina * Julia McCarthy as Agnes *

Caroline Paterson Caroline Paterson (born 1965) is a Scottish actress and director who has appeared in many Scottish television shows such as one-off STV drama, '' The Steamie'' and the BBC's '' Rab C. Nesbitt''. However, she is most recognised for her role in ' ...

as Mother * Gordon R. Strachan as Peter * Alan Tall as McCreevie *

Cameron Stout Cameron Stout (born 8 March 1971 in Stromness, Orkney) is the winner of '' Big Brother 2003''. He received 1.9 million votes, 500,000 more than runner-up Ray Shah. Cameron is the elder brother of television and radio presenter Julyan Sinclair. ...

as Bystander * Lorraine Buchan as Bystander * Justin Kimmett as Little Boy

References

External links

* * 1989 films Scottish films English-language Scottish films Films set in Orkney Films shot in Scotland 1980s English-language films {{1980s-Scotland-film-stub