(Credit: Amazon.com)
Directed by
John Mackenzie
Cast:
Bob Hoskins …. Harold Shand
Helen Mirren …. Victoria
Dave King …. Parky
Bryan Marshall …. Harris
Derek Thompson …. Jeff
Eddie Constantine …. Charlie
Paul Freeman …. Colin
Leo Dolan …. Phil
Kevin McNally …. Irish Youth
Patti Love …. Carol
P.H. Moriarty …. Razors
Ruby Head …. Harold’s Mother
Charles Cork …. Eric
Olivier Pierre …. Chef
The Movie:
Were the 1980’s a black hole for great Crime films? A quick look over at imdb.com’s top 50 of the genre features a slew of movies from the 70’s and 90’s with names such as The Godfather and Pulp Fiction, but the 80’s are only represented by a lone epic, Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America. Was the Reagan-era “ME” decade simply a wash for the genre? Well people, I’m here to give an emphatic “NO”. The 1980’s produced one of the greatest Gangster movies of all time, though many have not heard of it.
That film is The Long Good Friday and most are not familiar with it because until recently, it was a little difficult to find. The film was one of the early entries in the Criterion Collection, but other than that this film was tough to get a hold of. Finally, the film is getting the treatment it really deserves. Anchor Bay’s new special edition isn’t a blow away hit as far as extras go, but the film looks brilliant with its new pristine transfer.
The film revolves around Harold Shand, a cockney gangster looking to finally make the big time with a land deal that will make him millions. For years, Shand has kept the peace amongst his subordinates by being a fair ruler, but bringing out the iron fist when needed. On the eve of his ascent to true greatness, his world is rocked by explosions and assassinations. Someone wants revenge, but whom? Someone is going to pay and God help them when Harold goes on the hunt to collect.
At the heart of the film is Bob Hoskins, whose Harold Shand is a highly likeable anti-hero. Hoskins is incredible here, as his character goes from extremely charismatic businessman, to hard nose gangster chief. His rage is seemingly always just under the surface, as he’s a man who is not to be trifled with. This is a tour de force performance from Hoskins, who film makers say is completely opposite from the man we see on screen. For those that saw Unleashed and would like to see more of Hoskins playing that type of character, they should definitely check out John Mackenzie’s film here.
As a counterpoint to Shand is Helen Mirren’s Victoria, his mistress and the legitimate face of his business. Mirren is extremely elegant here, entertaining Harold’s business contacts with her upper crust charm as Shand’s empire may be crumbling before their eyes. It’s only when she’s in private with her man that she allows her facade to drop and her fears come to the forefront. These are the also the only moments when Harold allows any fear to show as well, making their moments genuinely tender, instead of just sexual.
For the lovers of the new wave of Cockney Gangster flicks such as Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Sexy Beast, and Layer Cake, and want to see where that type of film started, there’s only two places to look; Mike Hodges’ Get Carter and The Long Good Friday. Of those two, Good Friday has an emotional content that is no where to be found in Get Carter. Carter is cold fury from beginning to end, which is its main appeal, but Director John Mackenzie allows The Long Good Friday time to breathe. Harold is given quiet moments of reflection, and rage seems to build up without him even knowing it. There’s a certain amount of humor in the film also, such a scene where Harold nearly gets ripped off by neighborhood kids, just to turn around and basically give them an “attaboy” as if he were recruiting.
There’s enough violence for lovers of the genre to be satisfied also. The film’s climax is an orgy of shotguns and explosions, along with a number of sequences where Harold is torturing possible suspects. One of the picture’s best scenes has Harold’s soldiers preparing to do some damage as many actual East Enders were used as extras. The sequence has Harold surrounded by his men with shotguns, pistols, knives, and bats on the tables around them. Harold whips them all into a frenzy, but as they’re all walking out of the room, Shand leaves them with a message of “try to be discreet.”
This is Harold and The Long Good Friday in a nutshell; controlled fury. Muck like The Godfather before it, John Mackenzie slowly builds the tension of his film to the breaking point, letting all of his fury out towards the film’s climax and then inevitable conclusion. This is also an intimate portrait of a man desperately trying to keep his entire kingdom from falling apart, even when his foe is unknown to him. The acting, directing, and story telling are all top notch. Much like the best of its genre, time has not tempered the film’s greatness. Completely outshining other 80’s Crime films such as Scarface and The Untouchables, The Long Good Friday is one of the best films of its decade and one of the upper echelon of its genre.
Score: 10/10
The DVD:
The Video
Not sure if I’ve really seen this before, but this new edition from Anchor Bay completely outdoes the earlier edition of this film from the Criterion Collection. The film’s print here is beautiful, getting in all of London’s beauty and the ugliness of its underworld. The Long Good Friday is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.77:1 Widescreen.
The Audio
The audio here is perhaps the only letdown, but that’s not really by much. Francis Monkman’s synthesizer/saxophone theme is as catchy as ever and again the mix is superior to the previous disc. The track here isn’t bad, but it’s just not Star Wars or anything.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Making of Documentary, Audio Commentary, Trailers, Glossary
Commentary by: Director John Mackenzie – This is a really detailed commentary from John Mackenzie, who goes over several facets of the production, as well as having a few interesting anecdotes along the way. Considering that the film came out 25 years ago, the man’s memory of events is pretty good. For example, he speaks about the very beginning of the film where all the events are set in motion, and how originally it was supposed to go on quite a bit longer, but Mackenzie wanted to basically get into the heart of the story quickly. His hard work seemed to have paid off.
Bloody Business: The Making of The Long Good Friday – This documentary runs about an hour and features brand new interviews with the cast and crew including Bob Hoskins and Pierce Brosnan, who has a small, but very important role in the film. The documentary covers a lot of the film’s important scenes and goes into great detail about their conception. John Mackenzie also speaks at length about distribution problems they had for the movie and how Monty Python great, Eric Idle, came to their rescue. Another funny section has Hoskins speaking about how his role was so convincing, actual gangsters would come up to him and congratulate him on his success, think he was one of them.
US and UK trailers – Not the worst trailers I’ve seen, but 80’s trailers aren’t usually the best. It’s interesting to see some of the really positive reviews the film got in those days such as one from Newsweek.
Cockney slang glossary – This is an interesting feature, listing different cockney sayings and what they actually mean. I believe the disc for Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels has a similar feature.
Score: 7.5/10
