Garnet's Gold - a film review

Twenty years ago Garnet Frost left London and headed into the Scottish Highlands without a map.  Garnet found himself trapped on the mountainous shores of Loch Arkaig, where he found a mysterious wooden staff and was rescued from death by a passing fisherman.

Since then Garnet has been obsessed by the possibility that the staff that he found was a marker left by Bonnie Prince Charlie's men to mark the location of a cache of gold coins.

This documentary film follows Garnet's expedition back to Loch Arkaig to try to find the gold. Garnet is a fascinating character, full of a restless creativity that seems to make him unable to settle down into a way of life that would be valued by society. He's a talented painter and musician, full of off-beat ideas, who spends much of his time caring for his frail mother.

The film shows the beauty of the Scottish Highlands in all weathers, the mountains alternately shrouded in mist, covered in snow and occasionally glowing in the sunshine, as Garnet and his friends travel to Loch Arkaig and explore the area to try and find the gold.

The journey, ultimately, is as much about Garnet finding meaning for himself as it about finding the gold. 

Garnet's Gold is showing as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival at 1330, 28 June at the Odeon.

Edinburgh International Film Festival has just announced its Best of the Fest line up, the most popular films of the festival which will be showing again on Sunday!


You can read my previous reviews of the film festival so far by following the links below:



The Japanese Dog.

Beloved Sisters.

Virunga. (and you can read about the Q & A with the Virunga team here)

A Dangerous Game.

My Name is Salt.

Snowpiercer. 

The Owners.

Legacy, Mistory and Language - a review of N: The Madness of Reason; A House in Berlin and Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?

Ancient Temples, Vertigo and Film-making - a review of Manakamana and La ultima pelicula.

Disclaimer: I have a press pass for the Edinburgh International Film Festival amd am attending free press screenings of these films. 

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