It's Nice Up North

It's Nice Up North is a quirky and fascinating 2006 British documentary film starring one of the United Kingdom's most ingenious comedic artists, Graham Fellows. Directed by Paul Kontonis, the film showcases Fellows in character as John Shuttleworth, his iconic comic creation, capturing the essence of the Northern personality and culture in a fun and pleasurable manner.

The film deploys a unique approach to basic yet intriguing themes of location, friendliness, and human connections, as devised by Graham Fellows. John Shuttleworth, the alter-ego of Fellows, is an unforgettable Sheffield-based singer-songwriter whose unsophisticated charms and low-key personality provide a humorous and realistic representation of typical Northern English voices.

The narrative of It's Nice Up North pivots on a simple, yet whimsical hypothesis concocted by Shuttleworth: Does increasingly moving North in the UK correspond to meeting friendlier people? With this premise, John embarks on a journey across the Shetland Isles, the UK's northernmost inhabited location, to conduct a pseudo-social experiment to validate his claim about the friendliness of northern folk.

As the film progresses, Fellows, as John Shuttleworth, complements the Pennine landscapes with a delightful screen presence and an idiosyncratic charm, employing his deliciously awkward humor to break the ice with passing locals. Alongside this, he also uses an old Yamaha keyboard to craft jingles, adding a musical flavor to his adventures and further enhancing the essence of the comedic narrative.

Throughout the documentary, Fellows, armed with his intrinsic wit, synthesizer and camcorder, good-naturedly approaches islanders and tourists alike, inquiring about their day and presenting his hypothesis about northern friendliness. He puts the people at ease, sparking conversations that range from the mundane to the unexpected.

These interactions, be they boisterous or bovine, become little windows into a world combining the realism of everyday life and the endearing absurdity of Shuttleworth. His encounters encompass a diverse range of northern residents, including Shetland pony handlers, a ship's captain, native musicians, and even the occasional sheep.

Underpinning this exploration is Fellows' instinctive talent for comedy which shines bright throughout the film. His comedic charisma is at its most potent in these organic interactions, demonstrating a perfect balance of wit, authenticity, and affability, turning basic exchanges into moments of humor and heart that make It's Nice Up North a surprisingly uplifting portrait of the north.

Director Kontonis brilliantly captures these scenes, creating an offbeat pastiche of travelogue, social study, and comedic performance that is as endearing as it is amusing. The serene beauty of the landscape serves as both a backdrop for and a participant in Shuttleworth's northern journey. The artful cinematography captures Shetland's ruggedly appealing rural visage, providing the ideal setting for John's peculiar odyssey of amicable investigation.

The score is composed of the charmingly absurd tones of John's synthesizer, crafting a melody that is at once an embodiment of the character's earnest charm and whimsical humor. Just as Shuttleworth's faux-naive inquiries uncover candid moments from the townsfolk, so too does the music capture the essence of this delightfully distinctive exploration of northern hospitality.

It's Nice Up North is both a charming character study of John Shuttleworth, a testament to Fellows' unique comedic prowess, and an affectionate, funny, and unexpectedly warm tribute to the people and places of the North. It highlights the Northern charm, indeed, the very "niceness" Shuttleworth sets out to discover, through its depiction of the picturesque landscapes and the heartfelt interactions shared between John and the locals during his journey beyond the borders of Northern England.

With such an enduring narrative, the viewers will discover a genuine affection for the Shetland Isles and its people, and a fervent appreciation for Fellows and his timeless comedic creation, John Shuttleworth. It's Nice Up North is an enjoyable blend of comedic genius and heartfelt affection, transforming an eccentric hypothesis into a charming and amiable exploration of Northern culture. In essence, the film is a testament to the idea that humor, friendliness, and a spirit of explorative curiosity can ironically be found in the chill of the North.