Not a Cautionary Tale – The Whiskey Robber

HBO interviewed him, Discovery Channel made a documentary about him.

The director of Szerelem első vérig only followed his instinct and the general interest a stubborn and media-savvy young man named Attila Ambrus had created with his stylish bank robberies, escapes and diary. Dobray sought out György Magyar, the lawyer of the Whiskey Robber, who was already in jail at the time, and signed a contract with Ambrus.   

Not a US-type action movie

Dobray György,  A Viszkis rendezője

The director co-wrote the sceenplay with Richárd Salinger, the young author of the novel Apám beájulna, whom he had known for a long time. Dobray asked him to join in because he thought that the film could benefit from the interpretation of two generations. He spoke to the protagonist about the emerging story several times.  He did it every possible way: in person in the jail, in writing and over the phone.
 
The story is not gong to be linear, there will be time leaps in it.  The film will portray the bank robber career of Ambrus, but the film will start with the hero’s childhood. Of course, most scenes will present the six years of the Whiskey Robber’s activity from his first capture through the escapes to his final arrest.

The film is currently in the preparation phase. Its producers are Zsuzsanna Hollósi G. and Gábor Varga, the cinematographer is Gábor Szabó.  Of the Ft 260 million budget MMK provided Ft 40 million to production company Filmplus Kft. The rest of the sum is still under negoatiations, potential partners include American an Canadian partners. The launch of the shooting depends on the success of the talks.

Potential locations include Canada or the US, Hungary and Romania. Attila Ambrus went on vacation thirty-six times during his career as a bank robber, frequenting resorts like Bali and the Seychelles. Las Vegas or Niagara Falls will replace these as fictitious elements, depending on the outcome of the talks.

Zsolt Nagy plays Attila Ambrus

„The film about the Whiskey Robber is not going to be a cautionary tale.  We all have desires and ambitions stemming from childhood. But all of us have made mistakes or committed some sort of crime, and we haven’t even found an excuse for it. Some get caught and some do not. The Whiskey Rober did get caught. But at least he faced up to it!”

According to Dobray the story is about a man, who wanted to live the life he had imagined, but that was way past his possibilities. „He made a bad decision. His name became famous, his figure became part of popular culture. And the interest in him keeps growing.”