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The Long Good Friday (Special Edition) [1981]
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Barrie Keeffe's original screenplay keeps the viewer a step ahead of Shand, providing us with a telling but teasingly incomplete glimpse of the misstep by his underlings that has set chaos loose. At the same time, Keeffe underlines the bourgeois pretensions of the rough-hewn, barrel-chested Shand, how the elegant Victoria (Mirren) helps serve those ambitions and the myriad parallels between Shand's minions and the local politicians and police only too willing to join in his scheme. Tart, funny dialogue and alternately playful and pungent Eastertide imagery complete Keeffe's shrewd design--two key scenes, in a meat locker and a warehouse, invoke the Crucifixion itself. Even with lesser performances, the script and John Mackenzie's solid direction would make The Long Good Friday a keeper but Hoskins's explosive portrait of Shand and his descent toward brutal revenge elevates the film into the very front rank, earning admiring comparisons to TheGodfather, Scarface, GoodFellas and other classics of that genre. --Sam Sutherland On the DVD The Long Good Friday is presented on disc in a 16:9 full-frame picture that reproduces well, and is enhanced by stereo and 5.1 Dolby surround sound options. There's a photo gallery and the original trailer, detailed biographies and film notes, a running commentary from Mackenzie, and an interview with Hoskins and Mackenzie taken from the National Film Theatre presentation in 2000. There must be a whole archive's worth of these interviews by now, so let's have more of them included in future DVD releases. --Richard Whitehouse
RRP: £19.99
Our Price: £3.35 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Intricately plotted and smartly paced, this gangster saga clicks as whodunit, social satire and explosive thriller. The piece is crowned by Bob Hoskins' career-making turn as a London mobster courting respectability and Helen Mirren's subtly detailed performance as his upper-crust mistress. Cockney wiseguy Harold Shand is a would-be burgher whose domination of the city's underworld stems from his shrewdness as a mediator and his skill at harnessing political and economic clout. As Easter approaches, he's poised to launch an aggressive real estate development scheme along the depressed Thames waterfront when all hell breaks loose: a trusted lieutenant is brutally murdered, Shand's mother is nearly killed in a car bombing, one of his pubs is blown apart and the visiting American don crucial to the pending deal is quickly growing wary.
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Straddling two decades, The Long Good Friday is a gangster film with a thoughtful and provocative core. Made in 1979, but not released--after a near-comical saga of proposed re-editing and overdubbing recounted in the booklet--until two years later, it combines the gritty realism of 1970s movies (Get Carter, The Sweeney) with the nouveau riche, fake-glamour culture of the 1980s. Bob Hoskins gives one of his most engaging screen performances as Harold Shand, top London mobster whose grandiose ambitions are doomed to failure of Shakespearian proportions. Helen Mirren is understated and alluring as his wife, and there's a strong support cast--even a brief, near-silent cameo from Pierce Brosnan! Director John Mackenzie controls tension impressively over the 109-minute span and if the IRA angle now seems a tad contrived, the prolonged final image of Shand coming to terms with defeat is breathtaking; heightened by Francis Monkman's punchy synths and saxes score.
The Long Good Friday
Review date: 2007-03-22 Rating: 10 out of 10
Watching this again after several years is like experiencing an episode of Life On Mars, only vastly superior. No need for flashbacks as we're actually there: with the clothes, the cars, the non-PC language and an undeveloped London Docklands. A time when gangsters had (supposedly) strict rules of behaviour and decency, and worked with corrupt police officials with little danger of media exposure. And although this is a violent, fairly realistic film, it all has a strange feeling of innocence about it. If only they knew what was around the corner!
Add to this Barrie Keeffe's marvellous script, lots of dry humour (it's almost a black comedy), Bob Hoskin's loveable villain, Helen Mirren as his upper class moll, and early appearances from Pierce Brosnan (hardly speaking, but wonderfully nasty), Gillian Taylforth and Eddie Constantine - and you have 109 minutes of pure pleasure. A lingering final sequence will stay in your memory. Unreservedly recommended.
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Reviews
Best British film ever ever ever
Review date: 2005-09-02 Rating: 10 out of 10
First saw this film over 20 years ago. Still as good now as it was then, if not better because of its 80's realism. Hoskins plays the lead with pace and panache which moves the film along at tremondous speed. The brutality is not out of place yet in places it softness balances this out. Some critics have said the music score is dated, but can you really have a film from 1981 without a synth. Watch and enjoy.
Without doubt the best british film ....................EVER
Review date: 2005-06-06 Rating: 10 out of 10
Oh my word ....... BUY THIS FILM!!! Im sorry but i cant understand why amazon are only charging £8 for the best british film ever!
If you have seen lock stock and were a fan then dont hesitate to buy this film, for me, lock stock would only get 2 stars if it were on the same scale as long good friday, and i love lock stock!
Honestly dont just take it from me, read some of the other reviews but dont hesitate to buy, in fact, stop reading my review and go order it!
The Long Good Friday
Review date: 2003-09-01 Rating: 10 out of 10
The Long Good Friday is possibly the best British Gangster film of all time. Only Get Carter (1971) can compete in the same league. Bob Hoskins portrays the part of the London Gangster superbly. With a strong cast, this film had all the makings of a winner. There have since been many british gangster films ie. Snatch, Lock Stock, Sexy Beast etc but for me this film will always be the greatest gangster film ever made.
The Best British Gangster Movie
Review date: 2003-05-01 Rating: 10 out of 10
Long before Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels existed the quintesential (and still the best) british gangster movie. Bob Hoskins in his finest role desparately hanging on to power in east end London.
The pace, the plotting all leading up to a stunning ending. Buy it, watch it, love it!
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Bob Hoskins
Leo Dolan
Helen Mirren
Paul Freeman
Kevin McNally
Creators:
Bob Hoskins (Primary Contributor)
Helen Mirren (Primary Contributor)
Phil Meheux (Cinematographer)
Mike Taylor (Editor)
Barry Hanson (Producer)
Chris Griffin (Producer)
Denis O'Brien (Producer)
George Harrison (Producer)
Barrie Keeffe (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: Starz Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Starz Home Entertainment
EAN: 5060020620508
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2002-06-10
Number of discs: 1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 109 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1982-04-02
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Original Language)