The Gangster film is certainly a genre that has brought forth more than a few great films, and John MacKenzie's breathtaking British Gangland Thriller "The Long Good Friday" (1980) must be one of the grittiest, exciting, most outstandingly acted and greatest specimen of all-time. In one of the most charismatic criminal performances ever, the great Bob Hoskins plays Harold Shand, a rich and powerful London crime boss, who is about to make a lucrative deal with the American mafia, when he and his associates are suddenly victims to brutal attacks by phantom enemies starting on Good Friday. Harold is desperate to find out who is behind the mysterious and bloody attacks and take action, without scaring away his new business partners.
"The Long Good Friday" has everything one might wish for in a Gangland thriller, and more. Bob Hoskins delivers one of the most charismatic performances I have ever seen in the role of gangster Harold Shand. Harold isn't the typical, laid back mob boss à la Don Corleone, but a former poor Cockney kid, who fought his way to the top; an irascible bulldog always ready to explode into uncontrolled violent outbursts. And while he is certainly a very dark protagonist, one can't help but have some sympathy for the tough guy with the mean Cockney accent. Equally great is Helen Mirren, in the role of Harold's smart and efficient wife Victoria. Mirren's Victoria is more than your usual gun moll; ravishing and sexy, cunning and utterly supportive of her husband's businesses, Victoria is both Harold's lover and dearest associate. There is no doubt that Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren are two of Britain's finest actors, and their performances here are utterly brilliant. In spite of the fact that Hoskins' Harold Shand must be one of the most charismatic Gangster characters in motion picture history, the film (unlike many mafia/gangster films) does never glorify gangsterism. On the contrary, it shows gangland life at its ugliest.
The film is extremely violent, at times, and the violent outbursts are always unrestrained and ugly, uncompromising and sometimes painful to look at. The entire film is uncompromising from start to finish, an incredibly gritty and (probably) very realistic experience, which simply cannot be missed by a lover of cult cinema. Hoskins and Mirren alone are pure brilliance, and the cast includes many other notable appearances. P.H. Moriarty shines as Harold's scary-looking right-hand man 'Razors', Eddie Constantine plays an American mob boss, and the young Pierce Brosnan appears as a silent Irish hit-man. The film is greatly photographed in London locations, and Francis Monkman's brilliant score is incredibly imposing and unforgettable.
The film has been advertised as 'the toughest gangster movie ever made' (quote on the German DVD cover), which I cannot say it is (this title would doubtlessly go to either one of the many Italian 70s gangster flicks, or to one of the countless brutal Japanese Yakuza films). However, "The Long Good Friday" is a truly gritty and tough-minded one, and one of the best there is. "The Long Good Friday" is a Gangster film as they should be: gritty, violent and uncompromising, incredibly stylish without being glorifying, brutal and sometimes disturbing; a masterpiece. At the moment, they are making an American re-make, which of course is going to be total crap. This original British classic is nothing short of brilliance and has to be seen by everyone interested in gritty cinema.
