Scotland, Pa.

Scotland, PA is a 2001 film directed and written by William Morrissette. It is a modernized version of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. The film stars James LeGros, Maura Tierney, and Christopher Walken. Shakespeare's tragedy, originally set in Dunsinane Castle in 11th century Scotland, is reworked into a dark comedy set in 1975, centered on "Duncan's Cafe", a fast-food restaurant in the small town of Scotland, Pennsylvania. The choice of Pennsylvania is arbitrary, though it coincides with two real towns, one southwest of Harrisburg on the outskirts of Chambersburg called Scotland and one just south of Erie, called Edinboro after Scotland's Edinburgh. The film was shot in Nova Scotia. The character of Macbeth is presented as "Joe 'Mac' McBeth" (LeGros), Lady Macbeth as "Pat McBeth" (Tierney), Duncan as cafe owner "Norm Duncan" (James Rebhorn), Macduff as "Lieutenant Ernie McDuff" (Walken), and Banquo as fry cook "Anthony 'Banko' Banconi" (Kevin Corrigan). The Three Witches are presented as a trio of bohemians (Amy Smart, Timothy "Speed" Levitch, and Andy Dick). The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001. The soundtrack is made up of Bad Company songs because, in Morrissette's words, "the band's catalogue was surprisingly inexpensive".