First Look: Wrong Side of the Tracks in Peter Mullan’s Neds (Non-Educated Delinquents)

Actor Peter Mullan pretty much became a fixter in Scottish cinema when Danny Boyle got a hold of him for roles in Shallow Grave and as a quick fix supplier named “Mother Superior” in Trainspotting, but its his bottomless cup drinker part in My Name is Joe that officially put Mullan on the map. From there he’s dabbled into becoming creative behind the camera, making filmmaking a part time gig beginning with a film I’ve never seen called Orphans, which debuted and won at Venice in 99 and which was quickly followed by a Venice Golden Lion winning sophomore feature The Magdalene Sisters (read my review). After sticking to his day job for some time (he’ll next be seen in all three Red Riding films) Mullan returned to the director’s chair last year for Neds, which stands for Non-Educated Delinquents. Here is a first look at some of the stills from the film – which pretty much grasps what direction the film’s young protagonist might be headed.

Set in the Glasgow of 1973 and follows a bright, sensitive youngster drawn towards the violence of the local gang culture.Screen Daily sat down with Mullan prior to filming, he calls the film “personal but not autobiographical”.

“The poverty of his circumstances, the oppressive hand of a drunken, bullying father and problems at school combine to warp his expectations of life.There are some parallels with Mullan’s own youth but the script comes from a place where reality ends and imagination begins.”