Szesztolvajok

Do you know what the angel's share is? If you haven't seen the movie of the same name, I'll explain it to you a bit. The angel's share is what escapes from whisky when the barrel is first opened. It is actually a portion that is left for the angels. It's bad luck for a person, as they have to accept that this small part doesn't belong to them. You might wonder what this has to do with the movie, which takes place in an environment where people have already committed some kind of crime and have to work it off, but as part of their rehabilitation, they get to taste whisky that will change a lot for them. They find out that a very unique barrel is to be opened, containing whisky that many consider to be the best ever distilled. They want to attend the event, which is reserved for select individuals, and they eventually manage to do so. However, their intentions are not admirable, on the contrary, they are very mean-spirited. They want to steal a little for themselves. The movie is about how even in Scotland, life is tough for the lower classes and they have to do what they can to make a living. Criminal activity is not uncommon. However, it can be watched with humor and perspective. "The Angel's Share" is such a movie. We follow the bitter fates of the main characters, but still carry hope with us, which portrays better tomorrows. The film is not about perfectly good people, but they do have something in them. Personally, I have to admit that I watched the movie mainly because I found out that the brilliant song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by the Scottish Proclaimers is featured in it. If you ever go on a long journey, play this song. It will work wonders for you and maybe you'll also remember the movie "The Angel's Share," which is dominated by non-actors with incredibly natural performances. Sometimes it's not important to have great and expensive actors, sometimes an interesting story is enough. I don't drink alcohol, at least not this strong, but after the movie, I still had the desire to learn more about whisky. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/11/sahara-stormbreaker-syriana-andelsky.html (2013.03.02)

An awful, left-wing, unfunny comedy about several unlikeable characters from the bottom of society (I call them losers, the official blurb of the distributor “successful existences”), and we are supposed to root for them because they want to change and improve their lives, and yet they don’t miss the first opportunity to do it with fraud. Hmm. The scene of the conversation between the protagonist-attacker, his victim and the parents of the victim is very manipulatively shot. The attacker comes out of it as a poor soul, the victim as a weakling and the mother as a callous harpy incapable of sympathy and unable to understand that the attacker could change and regret his actions. And this is only because of the way Loach shot it, and because he put in the role of the mother a woman with the most ridiculous accent of the whole lot. Two stars for the craftsmanship, but rubbish otherwise. (2012.12.22)

An impressive mix of British social drama and crime comedy that is superbly cast, acted, and directed. It's a bit of a fairytale, but far from the escapist style in which similar films are made by American studios. Ken Loach looks at his losers with understanding, but he is not so naive that he does not know how things are and what chance these robbers of all virtues have to leave the world of the galley and break free from the lifestyle they lead. It is at times touching, at times suspenseful. Personally, I can say that this style suits me perfectly and the film just narrowly missed out on a fifth star. Overall impression: 85%. (2015.01.03)

A nice social fairy tale with a beautiful left-wing message of "angel share" as a principle of painless redistribution. Loach knows how not to particularly idealize his characters, even though he is clearly fully on their proletarian side. For me, his problem still remains clinging to "serious" social scenes, which do not work as completely in the overall crazy concept - they are simply two ways of looking at things and do not fit together completely. But otherwise I had a great time with this elemental Scottish boorishness. (2012.07.07)