The Long Good Friday
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Movie Reviews of The Long Good Friday
Movie Review: old school gangster film
Summary: 5 Stars
I like gangster films, Lock stock and two smoking barrels, snatch, layer cake, rock n rolla, scar face, i can't but wonder did long good friday influence these types of films, IMO i think so. I caught this little film gem on netflix. Bob Hoskins gives a great performance, he plays a gangster trying to broker a real estate deal over the easter weekend, entertaining his financiers who are from across the pond... NY, meanwhile everything is slowly unraveling around him, his best trusted man is killed, his mother almost blown up, and a pub he owns gets blown to bits. Meanwhile he is trying to keep the NY financiers from leaving. Helen Mirren who by the way looked very lovely back then when she was younger, plays his mistress and confidant. And watch out for a young Pierce Brosnan as a hitman.
Hoskins plays a mobster with such vitality, grandiose performance, a man almost on the edge, trying so desperately not to come unraveled while all of this is going on. Hoskins plays the character as a man who rather shoot and ask questions later. A gang leader who doesn't like to be screwed with, doesn't want to be the one shoved around, where he does the shoving in this town. Of course with this type of movie it's always this type of character's downfall and in the end what goes around comes around shall I say. I thought the movie had tight direction, a well thought out, steady paced story, viewer getting tidbits on who is betraying hoskins. Oh and the ending, the range of emotions Hoskins is feeling, way he conveys it through his facial expressions with the camera on him for over a minute, can't beat a better performance than that, he showed anger, disbelief, realization, acceptance for his fate.
The movie felt gritty, the underworld of London back in the 70's, early 80's, definitely has that Limey feel, that British flair, as I said I can't but think if Guy Ritchie used this type of story arch for his movies, borrowing elements from Long Good Friday, intricate plot, cast of shady/ interesting characters, witty dialogue, having that underworld London feel.
So if you want to watch an old school Limey gangster film and have all ready seen all of Ritchie's movies, rent this one, you will not be disappointed.
Movie Review: Great Movie British Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is excellent from the cast of actors through the plot and the realistic brutality that is far more shocking for it's realism than many of the movie scenes that almost glorify the act of killing and the crazed manner in which people die,that is all to frequently seen in movies of this ilk.
The stone cold realism of someone being stabbed in the swimming pool shower scene, in this movie carried out by a very young Pierce Brosnan is so much more disturbing for the cold quick and mechanical taking of a life watched draining away with a simple scene of blood swirling down a drain as the victim lies dead,with only this trace of his existence left,than the wild shoot outs and incredible fire and fist power which is empty and ridiculous in so many films.
The lack of airs and graces along with a lack of pretence as to who is who and who does what is also something that marks the movie as sitting in a category with very few other films of this genre.
Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren as the principles are a suitably cold couple.
Bob Hoskins especially seems to relish the role of being the top man,and the outtakes and follow up interviews from years later are of great interest to any film lover.
They are far more interesting and revealing than many of the two hour "lost scene,outtake" discs that are usually the drivel that did not make it past the cut,that is why they are "lost" for so long,they should never be seen,as they are terrible.
I am cynical in that i do believe these discs are deliberately held back for cash ins at a later stage,to ease the viewers money away from them to see a load of not much at a bloated price.
I have not layed out the plot or said to much about the movie,more about the atmosphere,however giving things away to first time viewers is very unkind.
I would suggest that you do get this movie and enjoy it for yourself,you will soon see how far the quick and simple efficiency of action is far more memorable and frightening than so many other movies action filled with guns,weapons,hundreds of deaths etc yet ultimately empty of any resounding memories or of wanting to watch the movie again or tell your friends about it.
Ian.
Movie Review: Gangster movie par excellence
Summary: 5 Stars
It's a helluva call to make but I would consider this my all time favourite gangster movie - if The Godfather trilogy is the Shakespeare of gangster films, and Scarface is the Opera of gangster films then THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY is the Dickens of Gangster films with some Jacobean tragedy overtones. It says as much as any film about the Irish determination to wage terror in their quest for justice; it is rich in the class issues that bedevil English society; it touches on immigration issues; it understands thed power and potential for corruption in local government; it highlights the cultural cringe the UK has for Hollywod -the use of Eddie Constantine as a visiting gangster from the USA is a master stroke - he can't get out of England fast enough, so pervasive is the violence, so dangerous is the place- he likens it to a war zone; but this also highlights another theme: as in so many things Harold (played brilliantly by Bob Hoskins) is constantly looking to the past in terms of the greatness of the "British Empire" and the trappings of the past - a Rolls Royce (which is blown up), the Church (to which only his ageing mother goes), and the gentry (his partner who is taken from him, played by the great Ms Helen Mirrem.
There are many highlights - Harold's temper is one such and he loses it from time to time using a broken bottle to give the face of one his lieutenants a Jacobean makeover, but the final minutes when the camera rests on his face as he is unexpectedly driven off into the night by the Irish and we read in his silent face the surprise, anger, rage, dawning realisation of his fate, acceptance, and defiance all flashing across his features, we see cinema acting at its very finest. Not a moment that should be cut in this film. And how many films can we say that about?
A small but rich masterpiece and one of the the finest gangster films ever made.
Movie Review: Top British Film
Summary: 5 Stars
This film, together with Get Carter (the original) are the two finest British crime/gangster films you can get.
Bob Hoskins gives his best ever performance as Harold Shand a cockney gangster whos trying to do a deal with an American over the (as was then) wasteland of London docklands. Unfortunately while he's in the states one of his gang has upset some rather nasty people. Upon his return things start to go badly wrong.
This film is full of great scenes - perhaps most memorably when the men Harold suspects are trying to muscle in on him are brought in hanging upsidedown from meathooks - Harold has a quiet word:
"For more than ten years there's been peace - everyone to his own patch. We've all had it sweet. I've done every single one of you favours in the past - I've put money in all your pockets. I've treated you well, even when you was out of order, right? Well now there's been an eruption. It's like f**kin' Belfast on a bad night. One of my closest friends is lyin' out there in the freezer. And believe me, all of you, nobody goes home until I find out who done it, and why".
Its all marvellously done, and the ending is very clever indeed - you will never forget it once you've seen it. The whole film is complimented by excellent music composed by Francis Monkman (who played with Curved Air and Sky).
Helen Mirren gives a great peformance as Harolds wife/girlfriend. The cast includes quite a few familiar faces such as Eddie Constantine and P H Moriarty as 'Razors'. The most noteable is a small role for the as then unknown Pierce Brosnan.
This film is also an interesting piece of British history as you can see docklands as it was before before Canary Wharf existed.
If you haven't already seen this, then you've missed a really cracking film.
Movie Review: The Cockney "Godfather" finally gets its due
Summary: 5 Stars
A brutal uncompromising film "The Long Good Friday" has been available on DVD only in a bare bones edition prior to Anchor Bay's re-release (at an expensive Criterion Edition at that). Mobster boss Harold Shand (Bob Hoskins)empire has begun to crumble. Members of his organization are being murdered and his establishments being blown up putting a deal with the American Mafia to redevelop the crumbling Thames water front into chaos.
Hoskin is nothing short of brilliant in director John MacKenzie's film which was inspired by real events. A taunt screenplay by Barrie Keefe (this was the former journalists only major film)and vivid characters allow Mackenzie and Hoskins to some of their best work. While MacKenzie has gone on to direct a number of fine films this remains one of his best. Featuring strong performances by Helen Mirren, Dave King and one of the first appearences of Pierce Brosnan "The Long Good Friday" looks marvelous in this top notch transfer from Anchor Bay. Unlike the Criterion edition this one has a full clip of extras including "Bloody Business" an excellent featurette on the making of the movie, both the U.S. and U.K. theatrical trailers, a Cockney Slang Glossary, poster and still gallery, talent bios and the original screenplay on DVD-Rom. More importantly there's a very good commentary track from director John Mackenzie along with new interviews in the featurette with Hoskins and Mirren on the making of the film.
This is definitely worth the upgrade from the older Criterion edition of the film. Oh and the eight page booklet has a reproduction of the original poster and an essay covering the history of the film.