WARNING: This Review May Contain Spoilers
A book was once born out of the true story of the S.S Politician running aground on the rocks of the Island of Eriskay. From that book came a film in 1949 of the same name, Whisky Galore!. To me, it comes across as a rather strange style of heist film and it must have seemed like such a great idea – that they decided to remake it in 2016. Now, which was better?
The Voice Over
I actually found this quite a high point of the original film. The voice over in the remake is done by the lead character, Joe Macroon, so it does come across as just a simple story. However, in the original film, the voice over almost makes it come across as if the film is a documentary about a real life incident (which it actually is, I might add). So, I guess what I’m trying to say here is that the remake feels more fictional than the original.
Peggy and her Sergeant
It is mentioned in the original version of Whisky Galore! that there is a 17 year age gap between Peggy and the sergeant, and if I’m honest with the actor choices this is made quite clear. In the remake however, the pair of them are much closer in age. The saving grace is that they actually don’t refer to their ages at all. Even though the films are set at the same time, maybe they felt that it would not have been accepted by the audience as well as it might have been in the 1940s.
Truly Scottish
Now, I think some people are going to consider this a little bit ‘nit-picky’ but it genuinely bothered me when watching the original film – even though it is only two characters. Both the actress that plays Peggy and the actor playing the doctor have seriously bad Scottish accents. Like I said, this may not be a big thing to some and may not even be that obvious, but once you watch the remake – it will stand out to you. I promise.
The Humour
The great thing about Ealing comedies, is that they aren’t exactly ‘in your face’ funny. Let me give you an example. There is a scene in both the original and the remake with George’s mum being offered a glass of whisky and it being placed down beside her (or in her hand as it is in the 2016 version). What I love about this in the original is that you know she’s going to drink it just from the way the whole scene is constructed with George and Katarina watching her, but we never actually see it. We just pan back to her smiling with an empty glass next to her. However, the remake decides to actually show her drink the whisky which truly doesn’t need to be shown.
Additional Plot Device
I think the introduction of the red case in the remake of Whisky Galore! may have been the director’s way of trying to make this film his own. However, I’m not sure how much the discovery of letters from Edward VIII to Wallace Simpson really adds to the story. Thankfully, it also doesn’t take too much away but some scenes do feel rather trimmed down in comparison to the original.
In Conclusion
I won’t say that I didn’t enjoy both films, because I absolutely did. However, I enjoyed the original more than the remake. Honestly, if you’re a fan of the TV series Frasier, you’ll love the original Whisky Galore!, actually you would quite enjoy any Ealing comedy, because it is the same dry sense of humour, and quite a few one-liners. To be honest, it’s just nice to have a good laugh – so I would give either a go if I were you.
