A Sense of Freedom

This is the life of Jimmy Boyle, a Glaswegian gangster. The fact that the film was apparently shot around forty years doesn't in the least detract from the film, in fact it adds to it. This is a wonderful insight into what Glaswegian life must have been like back then, when men were men. My only disappointment is that the film didn't have subtitles. Gabriel Millsom.

I was so disappointed when I put this disc into my machine. The dialogue is dubbed in Standard Scots!! Even though in many cases it's the original actors supplying the dialogue, it still sounds very strange. Native Scots will find this difficult to watch due the strange accents. Accents that sound very unnatural. Accents that are neither Kelvinside nor Morningside. I have not made it to the end of this DVD because the dubbed soundtrack is so annoying and off putting. The distributor missed a trick with this release. The American DVD release of Gregory's Girl has two soundtracks – English and Scottish. They could have done the same with A Sense of Freedom. Let's hope that STV release this drama in its original form.

I had this fantastic drama on video, and was most excited when I found I could upgrade with the DVD release. So I gave away my video and bought the DVD, only to find to my horror that the DVD is edited, has new titles put on which are unbelieveably tacky, and worst of all, is DUBBED into Standard Scots! This destroys all the beauty of the piece, both the chilling dialogue and the comic timing. Additionally the blown up print makes the film look like a home movie. An absolute disaster, and a successful job of making a gem look awful. And the person I gave the video to taped over it.

This is an extremely powerful film. Certainly one of the most influential dramas of its time. But do not be confused.... Boyle is no hero. He was a very nasty individual who had little/no regard for other people and (to my recollection) has never shown remorse or regret for the life he led. By all means watch the movie... it is excellent, but do not mistake his stubborn, rebellious and lawless nature for anything other than it is.

A brutal Man. A brutal system. This is the true story of hardman Jimmy Boyle based on the tough streets of the Gorbals in 1970,s Glasgow. A hard hitting story of a man who,s loan sharking and racketeering eventually leads him to prison where his anti authoritarianism is met with rough justice by the prison wardens. This low budget film proves that money and special effects need not be the key in mastery