I was asked this question after I had watched the film for the 3rd time, I answered mac at first then changed my reply to all the villagers.
Any Thoughts, wonderful film.
Will
Forsyth stating it is Ben would seemnto answer the question, which is one I've discussed many times over the years with fellow LH appreciators. But it might be Gordon, the Everyman; he is Mac's spiritual guide. And, he is
Publican extraordinaire: "local"' as in the pub and Gordon is the local hero.
Admittedly the scene that undermines the Gordon Theory is the "stinking rich" dance on the bed scene. (But, ah, the Hero is also Human.)
Damn i love this movie; not enough said about the music -- i have Mark knopfler's wonderfulnsoundtrack -- on vinyl-- and always cry at Going Home and Gerry Rafferty NAILING That's the Way It Always Starts.
"... Why must there be this price to pay?"
I agree that if Forsythe says the "Local Hero" is Ben, then it must be Ben. Forsythe would know.
Personally, (and before I heard that Forsythe said the "Local Hero" was Ben), I thought a good argument could be made that Mac could be considered "the Local Hero", because as the film progresses, he is slowly transformed into a "Ferness-er".
In fact, when he finally gets back to Houston, he seems to be lost there, as if he is suddenly out of place -- or at least when he returns to Houston, it seems that he feels a loss.
I've always felt this was the overall theme of the film -- i.e., Mac's slow transformation into one of the villagers. The beauty of the film is that we don't actually see any single moment that he has this transformation -- no "Aha moment" -- but the change in him is clear from the beginning of the film compared to the end.
I'd like to offer a candidate for "the" local hero that no one has mentioned yet: Marina. She's the one who came up with the plan that ultimately changed the course of events, and she is presented throughout the film as a quasi-godlike creature -- a hero, in an almost classical (Greek) sense.
But, my argument then also suggests the idea of Peter Capaldi's goofy character as "the" local hero -- since, he's the one who presents the marine laboratory idea to Happer.
And, of course, that makes Happer a candidate, since he's the one with the power to make the idea good, and he arrives on the scene like a "deus ex machina," changing the course of events.
And, of course, this whole change of course was triggered by Ben's unwillingness to cash in.
But the key is that all the locals got to have their cake (cash for the scenery) and eat it too (keep the scenery) -- proving the Russian's aphorism wrong ("you can't eat scenery"). That surprise good ending was all the result of the marine laboratory idea. Ben's intransigence; Peter's right-place-right-time; and Happer's resources all made it possible, but Marina is the one who matter of factly didn't see an oil refinery as possible, who kept an eye on the village and the wild life, and who had the solution that made all well. It was like a Shakespearean plot, or a fairy tale, and the "good witch" was the local spirit who ultimately transformed the village, and Happer, and Mac....
You seem to be focusing the "hero" part of the term, but I'll focusing more on the word "Local".
People say that Bill Forsythe says that Ben is the local hero. Although I never saw a source for Forsythe saying this, if he DID say this, then it is Ben (after all, I'm not going to argue with the filmmaker about that).
But if Forsythe never said that and is leaving it up to the audience to decide, I'll second the nomination for Mac as the "Local Hero" (just like the poster a few posts up said). Sure -- Mac isn't a "local" when the film starts, but he certainly becomes one of the locals as the film progresses.
There's no 'right' answer. It's whoever you want it to be. It's everyone and no-one.
Its deliberately ambiguous and if you feel you need to ask the question, you clearly don't understand the film.
I suggest Happer as a candidate. Although he initially sent Mac to buy the villagers out, when he arrives in Scotland, his change of heart, after the night spent with Ben, may indeed provide the heroic moment of the story line.
There's no emoticon for what I'm feeling!