The Whiskey Bandit

This movie is not new as it's a 2017 release. I knew about it and knew the story it was based on very well as it is a true story, but somehow I've been postponing watching it. Last Sunday, I saw the advertisement about the movie being aired in TV by chance and because I was up late coordinating with some people in order to help someone, I got the chance to watch it. Being busy with the coordination I missed some parts, so last night I watched it again.

Based on astonishing true events, comes the tale of Attila Ambrus, the most infamous bank robber in Hungary.

A ballad about the eventful life of a Hungarian bank robber, who became a national hero before he turned 30. Attila Ambrus tried all kinds of careers before becoming the country’s most famous criminal and was soon confronted with the fact that you only “matter” if you have money. And he had none. When he turned to bank robbery in 1993, public opinion quickly saw him as “the modern-day Robin Hood”. He disappeared quickly from each bank raid, leaving only a faint scent of whiskey and so the media quickly christened him as The Whiskey Bandit… source

The beauty of this movie is that is based on a true story, which doesn't make it unique as there are hundreds if not thousands of movies based on true stories, in this one but the main character is still alive and what is more interesting is that he has a role in the movie.

Attila Ambrus is a known person for millions in Hungary and not only. He's well known in Transylvania too as he was born in Transylvania and his story has made the news for years. He has committed 27 robberies of banks, post offices, and travel agents. It's an impressive career, no matter how you look at it.

For those of us, who knew the story before watching the movie (it's all over the internet by the way), the plot was not a surprise, but the construction and the focus of the movie was. I wanted to see what the writer decided to focus on. Plus obviously reading a story and watching the same story in TV is very different.

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The writer decided to reveal the background of the character, starting from his childhood, that was everything but happy. A difficult childhood, defection from the communist country he grew up, hardship in the new country have pushed him to choose a different path.

I liked the movie because it's not the typical Hollywood type. We've seen plenty of those, in which everything is worked out perfectly and robbing a banks looks so easy. This one is far from that as it's a true story. The details may be different, but it is still based on real events.

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What was a bit confusing for me was that the narrative in the movie was not straight forward, the action was jumping back and forth in time. This is a known technique, which may work or not. I'm not saying it did not work in this case, but I guess I would have preferred a different approach.

Also I would have loved to see the story go till recent years, but it stops after he managed to escape from a maximum security prison. This move was unprecedented as he was the the first to escape from that prison. He was obviously caught at some point and had to serve the rest of his sentence.

I've seen a few TV interviews with him and was interesting to see how and in what way he has changed after serving 12 years in prison. His sentence was only 12 years because he has not harmed anyone.

During his prison years he has learned ceramics and since his release he's been creating and selling ceramics.

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This was him in 2016. The banner behind him says: "Whatever you do, do it right!" It is a very good one actually. He knows how it's done as he's managed to rob 26 banks and post offices without being caught. Now he's managed to tun his life around, has a business and a family. Not many can do that honestly.

In the interview I mentioned above, there was a funny scene, where the interviewer asked him a question about his past and instead of saying "when you were a bank robber", the interviewer said "when you were working in the bank sector", which was funny. Another question that was addressed to him was how is he going to explain to his kid, what he was doing in the past. I can't remember clearly what his answer was, but explaining something like he did to your kids can never be easy.

So while I don't approve what he did in the past, I'm happy he could still turn his life around. I was thinking it would be interesting to meet him one day. I know where he can be found and maybe during my next trip to Hungary I may meet him. Would never ask him about his past, but would love to buy something he's selling.