Brother and Brother

This chapter examines Scott’s continued study at the Royal College of Art. Scott visits specialized movie theaters and is exposed to world cinema, including the films of Ingmar Bergman, and Japanese, French, Indian, and Hollywood movies. There was no formal film department at the college but one day Scott found an old movie camera and set out to make his first movie, Boy and Bicycle. The script, inspired by James Joyce’s novel Ulysses, was a stream-of-consciousness narrative. It starred Scott’s younger brother Tony, who would also become a noted film director. The short black-and-white film traced the boy on an odyssey he takes on his bike, learning about himself and his environment. Ridley Scott did everything on the project except the music, which he persuaded noted composer John Barry to provide. The significance of Boy and Bicycle is the launching of Ridley Scott as a film director.