A Sense of Freedom

An interesting movie to say the least.....

I watched this film by complete accident and have never discounted the influence it has served in my life.

Once the film had been seen I went onto read the book (much more intense) and then the sequel (the pain of confidement). Eventually having lost the movie some years ago I managed to win a copy on Ebay some weeks ago, once again opening me up to the harshness and bleakness this film gave me and still does.

A wonderful performance by David Hayman (totally hard, totally cold) and others (watch out for Rab C Nesbitt and Fulton Mackay from Porridge).

The film portays the true story of Jimmy Boyle as rather biased towards Boyle forgetting the effect he would have on some peoples life. Do not forget that these prison officers took some almighty provocation from Mr. Boyle and when Mr. Boyle in the movie questions the officers about wether they are any different from him they're answer is "we have families at home waiting for us...."

Having watched the majority of British Prison movies (Macvicar, Scum) once is left with the feeling that this is the top one. So sad that is has not enjoyed it's day on DVD yet.

I visited Peterhead Prison some years ago and was astonished with it's look, goodness knows only what it was like inside.

The brutal nature of the film is also astounding, knife slashing, prison beatings and a quite astonishing deterrent by Boyle to avoiding such beatings (Urgh!).

Do such beatings deter, well now adays people believe such punishment has no effect and is unfair on the criminal, funny that as Boyle is now a reformed character preaching to the addicted masses, one could be contraversial and say that his punishment served as his "sense of freedom"

The true story of Jimmy Boyle, one of Scotland's most notorious troublemaker's. This movie gives the viewer; 1. A glimpse into the harsh reality of growing up in one of Europe's toughest neighbourhood's, the "Gorbells" in Glasgow, Scotland, and; 2. It shows the 'Incredible' strength of one man's spirit. Jimmy, use to run small time protection rackets and the usual 'Gangsterism' that goes with, that is until he's caught and sent to prison. Everybody feared Jimmy Boyle, and I understand why, Boyle was one hell of a nasty character and you will see why, but that was no excuse for the brutal punishments this Human being received once imprisoned. He was actually in solitary confinement longer than any other person on record or "in the movies", but that's just one of the punishments Jimmy receives in prison. This movie will bring you through all the emotions that "Midnight Express" did. I actually prefer 'a sense of freedom' because of it's low budget and realism, and it's portrayal of one man's strength of spirit to defy condititioning by way of extreme brutal punishment inflicted upon him by the British Judicial System, this guy would not give in, until they did, unbelievable, you gotta' see what this guy went through. One of my favourite parts is when Jimmy is at His Mother's funeral, so sad, and the line "you'll see, jimmy" J.B. replies "you'll see,!? you'll see f*#k'all without your eye's." Ouch!. Jimmy Boyle still lives in Glasgow, he houses and counsels homeless and drug addicted teenagers.

Although the video description is a little misleading as it suggests Jimmy Boyle was an innocent man, the movie, based on Jimmy's autobiography, tells the story of Jimmy's life as a brutal gangster and is amazing from beginning to end. There's a lot of violence and a lot of blood, but some very emotional moments as well which make you re-evaluate your opinion of a person.

After terrorising people for ages, eventually Jimmy starts to get a taste of his own medicine - but this guy is too hot to handle.

The emotions are raw in this movie and though there is some music, none is needed. The lack of music adds to the intensity of the film and David Hayman's acting as the star of the movie is better than brilliant - he shows us pure evil, anger, sadness, and compassion, and every emotion seems as real as the other.

People say that beatings work against criminals so they think such violence should be used as a deterrent - this film proves exactly THE OPPOSITE - when Jimmy is treated like a human instead of being beaten, there is a drastic change which leads to him running a rehabilitation centre and preaching against gangs and violence.

The fact that VIOLENCE DOESN'T WORK AS A DETERRENT is what this film proves, evidenced by a man who's suffered loads of it.

Jimmy's 'sense of freedom' is when he is treated like a human instead of being beaten.

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

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.