Matt Shea
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Morgan Bell
Cibbuano
David O'Connell
Mountain Fog
The Long Good Friday
October 29th 2009 08:38
Watching “The Long Good Friday” it’s easy to imagine Guy Ritchie and his friends – circa 1995 – sitting on a crisp-scattered velour couch, smoking joints, drinking lager and furiously taking notes.
“Good Friday” is all that to which Ritchie paid homage with his one-two punch of “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch” – a muscular, biting mobster film like only the British could produce in the 1960s and 70s. There’s even a direct link through the ice-cold glare of P.H. Moriarty: Hatchet Harry from “Lock, Stock” is an accomplished stand over man in “The Long Good Friday”.
Not that “The Long Good Friday” bubbles over with humour like Ritchie’s films. There’s a certain mirth to the picture, but it’s also driven by darker forces, beholden in particular to a bitter subtext regarding Margaret Thatcher’s Britain.
Although he would never dare be so overt, Harold Shand (Bob Hoskins) is a dedicated Thatcherite. A ruthless hood with an eye to legitimising his business, Shand is attempting to utilise ten years of peace within the London underworld and put together the biggest real estate deal in Europe.
As played by the sublime Hoskins, Shand is no nutjob, chewing bullets and eating dynamite. He’s risen to the top through an ability to out think the opposition, utilising muscle only when absolutely needed. He’s loyal to his people, particularly to his mistress, Victoria (an engaging Helen Mirren), whom he treats like a true partner in both the professional and personal spheres.
It’s these more amiable aspects of Shand’s personality that make him at least partly sympathetic, and when on a quiet Good Friday he finds his empire under attack from unknown forces it’s easy for the audience to tag along on the quest for vicious retribution.
This is tight, masterful filmmaking built upon a carefully honed script courtesy of Barrie Keefe. Keefe has given events some fearsome early propulsion as Shand receives one blow after another: his mother is almost murdered, two of his henchmen are killed, and his Rolls Royce and favourite pub are blown to bits. It’s nerve-wracking stuff, the audience taking blows along with the film’s protagonist.
But Keefe also knows what his film is ultimately about. Its central purpose isn’t to document a series of unfortunate events or to beat on about Thatcher’s Britain; it’s to provide a portrait of a man being harried into an almost Shakespearean tragedy.
And it’s rare to see a character come so completely alive onscreen. Shand can be menacing and cruel, but his contradictions are what lend him so many colours. He may hang enemies upside down by meat hooks, but he’s also possessed of a genuine regard for fair play and is gentle and caring of those close to him. He’s overtly cocky but inwardly hesitant, making his growing impotence at the hands of a faceless, politically motivated enemy fascinating to watch.
“The Long Good Friday” doesn’t disappoint on the technical front, either. John Mackenzie’s work to get the best out of a perfect cast is priceless, the final scene with Hoskins being a supreme example. Meanwhile, Phil Meheux’s effortlessly slick photography keeps the picture rolling through its many locations, rarely drawing attention to itself.
It’s just typically tight British stuff all round. Ultimately, you may loathe Harold Shand, but the filmmakers make it not hard to sympathise with this man who’s in danger of being swallowed up by a brave new world. Densely plotted, thick with suspense, but ultimately ripe with character, “The Long Good Friday” remains a true classic of the crime film genre.
"The Long Good Friday" is now available on DVD from Umbrella Entertainment.
I say: An absolute belter of a crime flick. A true classic of the genre.
See it for: Bob Hoskins in one of his greatest performances. Also, a tiny role for a very young Pierce Brosnan(!).
*This image is from That Barton Fink Feeling
*This image is from Existentialist Man
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