Note: 4/5.
Comedy-drama by Ken Loach, starring Paul Brannigan, John Henshaw, Gary Maitland, Siobhan Reilly and Roger Allam.
Glasgow, Scotland. Robbie, a young criminal, tries to get his life back on track. Condemned to the punishment of community service, this future father is then met by other broken arms: Albert, the mad rhino and the kleptomaniac Mohd. Robbie, under the influence of his teacher Harry, discovers a talent in the taste of whiskey. A rare and expensive vintage will spark hope for new life, with one last foul hit on the road.
If the laughter is often obvious (a drunken character confuses the station master and God’s voice), some elements are more serious, such as the first comic court scene that becomes more serious when a woman is possessed. Cumulative social assistance is tried with his small household income. The laughter then gives way to a genuine discomfort at the concept of justice that recalls other eras.
an in-depth overview of society
With this brief sequence, Loch and his screenwriter Paul Laverty place their observations of contemporary society in a Dickensian continuum. Later, by confronting the protagonist with a forever victim, they force him to take his share of the blame.
Ken Loach believes in second chances in the form of justice and shows empathy for Robbie who is far from being an angel. He nevertheless shows even more compassion for this man who is forever, in a moving sequence, slain with an element of cruelty.
percentage of humor
On the rare occasions when the sometimes hopeless British filmmaker himself has given a large percentage of humor to his films (“Riff Raff”, “Raining Stones” and “Looking for Eric” in particular), the result has been refreshing. . He justifies this desire for lightness “out of a pure sense of contradiction”: “I make sure the audience shares my characters’ experiences, and if the situations are funny, well, they’re funny, that’s it! Goal It’s that the relationships between the characters are believable and they’re developed in a realistic context. So if they make you laugh in reality, they’ll make you laugh in the movie, and if they make you cry, they’ll make you cry, and if they make you angry they will make you angry, etc.”.
The title expression designates that portion of the alcohol content that evaporates during its aging in the barrel, a process that allows Scotch whiskey to reach the minimum 40° required for its appellation. The humor here is over 40°!
Watch for free on Arte on March 17th at 8:55pm and until March 23rd on Arte.tv.
Amateur web specialist. General food junkie. Typical zombie enthusiast. Avid music trailblazer. Lifelong explorer.
