Sunshine on Leith

"Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a death like slumber, must always create a sunshine," wrote Hawthorne "filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outside world." So it is that the habitually dark skies of Scotland open to the sun. A trio of diverse highlander couples, both experienced and not, struggle to deal with fears and passions stirred up by past loves, the urge to see the world before settling down, war and questions about whether we ever truly know someone. Singing and dancing to the music of the Proclaimers aids in working these questions out. The astonishing and effervescent, even if somewhat alarming, scenes of uptight and introverted Scotlanders warbling and writhing in the uncommon sunlight would move even Angela Merkel to spontaneous joy. Chemistry is lacking in the younger couples, yet despite this the film is touching and radiant. Seen at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.