Behind the Scenes with Mark Furse
Quick-Fire Q&A
Join us as Mark Furse, author of Scottish Films, takes part in our series of quick-fire Q&As!
What is a quick-fire Q&A?
We have our interviewee pick a number at random and we ask them the general question listed next to it.
Shortly after we switch to asking book-specific questions to give you a brief insight into our wonderful writers and their books.
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What is your biggest fear?
Birds.
Where is your happy place?
My happy place is in Venice. Specifically, in a restaurant called Osteria Da Franz.
What's your favourite thing about being an author?
I'm not sure I would describe myself as an author yet.
I like organising material, so I wouldn't write fiction, only fact.
I like the process of creating order out of chaos.
What is your favourite film?
That's an easy question.
Blade Runner.
Specifically, the director's cut. There are seven versions of Blade Runner.
What inspired you to start writing books?
Professional obligation as an academic. One is under an expectation to write and research. So, the first part of my career flowed from that professional context.
Where is your favourite place to write?
Oh, it doesn't matter. I can turn my brain off from everything else when I'm thinking about writing. I can shut down everything for up to 7 or 8 hours.
If you could hypothetically be any character from any book, who would you be?
There is a series of science fiction novels called The Equations of Life, by Simon Morden, and there is a character called Samuel Petrovitch. He's pretty cool. A young physicist, robust street skills. Makes relationships easily.
What are your three favourite books?
My three favourite books across all genres would be:
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Hell in a Very Small Place by Bernard Fall
What advice would you give your younger self?
I wouldn't dare to.
If every mistake I've made has led to here, it is okay.
What do you wish you had known when you first started the writing process of this book?
I wish I had known that there were so many films fitting within my definition of Scottish. I've got 427. When I started, I thought it wouldn't even be 100.
What was your favourite thing about writing this book?
The vast amount that I learned about films I hadn't heard of aspects of Scottish culture, books, places and people that I may not have heard of and the sheer quantity of new stuff which came over my desk.
If you were to make a film based on this book, what would it be?
It would be a TV documentary series. Specifically, a three-part TV documentary.
First part, Scotland & Film, how others see us.
The second part, Scotland on film. How we see us.
The final, Scots making films now.
If your book were to have any other title, what would it be?
It wouldn't have any other title because the title should just be what's on the tin, and it is what's in the tin. So yeah, they shouldn't be any other.
It's the right title.
If you could meet any of the characters from any of the films you mentioned in this book, who would it be?
Richard Hannay from the 3 39 Steps films.
What is your favourite entry in the book?
I'm pretty sure it's the entry to a film called Finding Fortune, which is a very, very short entry. This one says, paraphrasing D.W. Griffith, Jean-Luc Godard famously quipped that all you need to make a film is a man, a girl and a gun, but with Finding Fortune, Robbie Moffatt proves him wrong.
How do you plan to celebrate the publication of this book?
It's been such a long process, but publication is merely one of many, many stages, each of which merits celebration. So there's no big bang.
I had a couple of drinks with a couple of friends when I received my physical copy.
What is the main message you would like people to take from this book?
There is a vast, largely unexplored wealth and difference to be found in the cinemas present in films representing Scotland, and even people in Scotland who engage with film to a significant degree will be surprised by how much there is and how different the voices are, and some of those voices are worth hearing or taking out or rediscovering.
How long was this book in the works for?
From conception to delivery of the manuscript was three and a half years, with probably an average five, six hours a day over the entire period
It was a very big project as the films had to be identified, found, watched and read about.
If you were to summarise the book in five words, what would those five words be?
A Scottish film treasure trove.
