The Firm

His last masterpiece. Alan Clarke of Scum and Made in Britain fame tackles the subject of football hooliganism deftly and precisely exposing the unique structures of the hooligans while utterly scornful of it. If Made in Britain is Clarke's finest and Scum is Clarke's most famous, this has to be his most underrated. totally convincing, Clarke shows a true understanding of both his subject and of the medium in general. using the documentary style to a devastated effect, the film has a feeling of utter truth, Gary Oldman in particular conveys that as an actor giving an extraordinary performance of raw power as the chief hooligan. Sadly people regard The Firm only as a Tom Cruise vehicle where in fact hidden away is something far more powerful, far more exciting and far more real, as a result it seems that the film conveys more about the brutality of hooliganism than even news reports do as reports tends to cater for an audience, this obviously doesn't and is hard as nails and totally uncompromising.This knocks the similar I.D into a cocked hat. Undoubtedly one of the finest British films of the 80's. this is simply a must see and finally when Clarke died less than two years later, England lost one of it's finest, more realistic filmmakers.