British Gangster Month: The Long Good Friday (1980)

            Who doesn’t love gangster films? They’re thrilling, dramatic, and often action-packed, with writing and performances that at their best can make you relate to an ensemble of violent, morally ambiguous criminals. But there’s a sub-genre of gangster movies that has its own charm, tropes, and style: the British gangster film. British gangster films (or British crime films) are more than just Goodfellas in London, but they reflect the unique culture of British organized (and unorganized) crime. Where an American gangster film commonly has a tone of drama and suspense throughout, their British equivalents often seem to employ a more darkly comic edge rounded with a cast of colourful characters (and language), intrigue, and themes that are inherently British. They give a very interesting perspective on British culture, crime, and character. And because of my fascination with this, and realization I haven’t seen enough films of this genre, each Wednesday in September I’m going to review a different British gangster film and see how they reflect their culture as well as the impact they have. Now these are going to be British gangster films so I won’t be touching on films out of Ireland some would confuse as British. In Bruges is f---ing amazing! But I’m really excited for the samples I am going to be partaking in of a fascinating and provoking genre!

                We start with what many regard as the godfather (get it!) of British gangster films, The Long Good Friday (1980). Directed by John Mackenzie, it’s certainly quite a different kind of gangster film than I’ve seen before in that it also functions as something of a mystery. That in addition to some good performances, interesting visual and editing choices, and some distinct themes and cultural characteristics make it a really decent film.

                The late great Bob Hoskins plays Harold Shand a successful gangster who is attempting to make a business deal with the American mafia to redevelop the London Docklands for use in the Olympic Games. However a series of attacks on his men and properties begin to lose him his credibility with the American boss Charlie (Eddie Constantine) provoking him to track down whoever’s responsible before he loses his deal and more.

                This is probably the most basic story of these gangster films, one that you could easily see as an episode of The Sopranos, but it works to this films’ advantage. It knows it’s not trying to tell a heavy elaborate story like The Godfather and so this kind of plot is appropriate. It’s more a film about a character, and the time, and the struggles inherent to that time. Mackenzie makes sure to keep focus on Harold and how his seemingly ideal world which he has run fairly peacefully for the past decade is beginning to crumble around him. This situation reminds me a lot of the opening to the final season of Boardwalk Empire which also dealt with a successful crime lord having to deal with the end of an era and the crux of his power being in jeopardy. I was also fascinated by some of the directorial and cinematography choices. The camera angles are clever at times forcing you to identify with the mobsters while at other times with the victims. There’s also the interesting crucifixion imagery in the film which ties into the Good Friday of the title, which is also the day the events of the film begin on. Whether this symbolizes or foreshadows Harold as a Jesus figure or something to that effect, is up to your own interpretation. It was just a curious choice to me.

                Bob Hoskins is as usual very good and a lot of fun to watch. With the focus being on his character so much, he had deliver, and he did so very well making this his breakout role. But there were times especially when he was drinking, I just couldn’t help seeing Eddie Valiant and it amused me to think if this had been his character in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? More than Hoskins though, Helen Mirren was electrifying as his wife Victoria. She wields almost as much power as him and a certain degree over him. She is very involved in the organization and is incredibly clever. For a film made in 1980 I was surprised how uninhibited the writer was to give a woman so much character and influence. Especially in a mafia movie where she’s a second protagonist. And Mirren was exquisite accentuating her character’s power and adding a welcome drop of class. P.H. Moriarty as Razors and Dave King as Parky were also pretty good. Paul Freeman, Belloq himself has a minor role as one of Harold’s goons Colin a homosexual predator. And this film has a number of cameos from yet to be well-known actors many of whom would go on to be in other films I’ll be reviewing in this series. Kevin McNally of the Pirates of the Caribbean series shows up, and Pierce Brosnan and Daragh O’Malley play a pair of hitmen.

                The Long Good Friday though it has a basic American gangster plot, is very distinctly British. This is fairly obvious in the interactions between the British and American gangsters some of which feel like the Brits purposely showing America they are different. The state of the U.K. is reflected through the film’s depiction of political and police corruption, economic problems, and the dangerous threat of the I.R.A. Harold is also not your typical crime film lead and the film goes out of its way to show him not being in control, not making rational decisions, and how all of these things could lead to his downfall. When he finds out the reason behind these attacks, it’s the perfect illustration of this lack of control. And that’s one of the important themes of this movie: consequences. He’s not able to just walk coolly away from some of the stuff he’s done, some of his responsibilities with his assets intact. A really good last minute twist hammers this in exceptionally. Gangster movies often set up their lead character as a relatable antihero and sometimes do it so well (i.e. The Godfather) that they can convince you these guys are the good guys. But The Long Good Friday isn’t going to let you do that. It does enforce how wrong these actions are and by showing the consequences, it could be seen as a warning. And this doesn’t feel like a lesson you get in many American gangster films, certainly not in American gangster culture.

                The Long Good Friday is certainly a good start to British Gangster Month presenting some different themes, interesting characters and style, and a basic but exciting story and character piece. A mob boss’s world destructing around him is still very fascinating and I think this film does it well. As inimitable a film this is though, I look forward to what the next one brings!