Description
Ken Loach visited Bruichladdich on 27th January while location hunting for The Angel’s Share. He intended to use one of our warehouses to feature in the film, and Bruichladdich to be the backdrop to the story. Having found his ideal location, Loach was unable to use it as there was insufficient quality hotel accommodation on the island to house his entire crew and cast. The Angels’ Share, winner of the Jury prize at the Cannes film festival, teams him with writer and regular collaborator Paul Laverty for an unusually lighthearted romp about some down-on-their-luck ex-cons trying to go straight. The comedy-drama is about four men who are sentenced to community service in Glasgow Sheriff Court and hatch a plan to steal some priceless malt whisky. The title refers to the proportion of whisky that evaporates each year during the ageing process. First-time actor Paul Brannigan, a former young offender from Barrowfield in Glasgow, is the lead role. When asked if he would continue bringing little known actors to attention with this film, he replied: “I hope so. One of the main characters is played by Paul Brannigan, who had never done this sort of work before. He’s bright, feisty and a sharp lad and he ends up making his character sympathetic even though his character doesn’t start out that way. I think you find amongst ordinary people there are a lot of people that are really talented. It’s more interesting to see new people on the screen when you go to the cinema. I don’t want to see the same old faces.” “Generally speaking [the working classes] are presented in a 2D, stereotypical way so they can be glossed over in films. So it is always my intention to describe and celebrate them in a different way. Our aim is to put them central stage and explore their contradictions, hopes, humor and lives without patronising anyone.” The film is subtitled as American critics have complained in the past that Loach’s previous Scottish-set films, such as Sweet Sixteen, were impossible to understand. There was a run it too with the british film censor over the explicit language. The colourful dialogue was ultimately limited to five uses of the C word, as according to Loach, they didn’t understand that in Glasgow, calling someone a ‘wee cunt’, is a term of endearment.
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