The Football Factory (2004)

An insight on the gritty life of a bored male, Chelsea football hooligan who lives for violence, sex, drugs & alcohol.

Director:

Nick Love

Writers:

John King (novel), Nick Love

Stars:

Danny Dyer, Frank Harper, Tamer Hassan

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danny Dyer	...	Tommy Johnson
Frank Harper	...	Billy Bright
Tamer Hassan	...	Fred
Roland Manookian	...	Zeberdee
Neil Maskell	...	Rod
Dudley Sutton	...	Bill Farrell
Jamie Foreman	...	Cabbie
Tony Denham	...	Harris (as Anthony Denham)
Calum MacNab	...	Raff
John Junkin	...	Albert Moss
Sophie Linfield	...	Tamara
Kara Tointon	...	Tameka
Michele Hallak	...	Shian
Daniel Naylor	...	Terry
Alison Egan	...	Barbara

Storyline

The Football Factory is more than just a study of the English obsession with football violence; it's about men looking for armies to join, wars to fight and places to belong. A forgotten culture of Anglo-Saxon males fed up with being told they're not good enough and using their fists as a drug they describe as being more potent than sex and drugs put together. Shot in documentery style with the energy and vibrancy of handheld, The Football Factory is frighteningly real yet full of painful humour as the four characters' extreme thoughts and actions unfold before us.

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Plot Keywords:

drug abuse | nightmare | overhearing | police officer | violence | 

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Taglines:

What else you gonna do on a Saturday?

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong language, brutal violence, drug use and some sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last feature film of John Junkin.

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Goofs

During the fight against Millwall, we see Raff on the floor with blood and bruises on his face. However, when the police arrive, we see Raff taunting them with no signs of being hurt at all.

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Quotes

Tommy Johnson: Kicked half to death, florists, cabbies, nightmares and visions; one of the old soldiers gone forever; Bright gone for a seven; and bollocks so ruptured that the only thing I'll be pulling for months is a chain.
Tommy Johnson: After all that you really do have to ask yourself if it was all worth it... course it fucking was!

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Connections

References Taxi Driver (1976)

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Soundtracks

Fit But You Know It
Written by Mike Skinner (as M. Skinner)
Performed by The Streets

User Reviews

An Honest Film

Hoologanism in football has been an controversial over past decade or so especially with it is concerned with English fans. This film has presented this dilemma quite well and in style as most British films do these days. Danny Dyer is brilliant, the last film i saw him in was Human Traffic. There is some terrific dialogue in this film... definitely one of the better football films to be released. I never knew Dyer voiced in some GTA games, how interesting. This film takes on no real plot (except for Chelsea's fixture list) which didn't really bother because it reflects a culture not a 'storyline'. British films never cease to amaze me, the acting is brilliant and script are always so clever and hilarious.

Although the film was good, it scared the hell out of me at times... the reality of it. Watching and thinking that this really does happen every weekend, I guess that is the intention of Nick Love. As a football fan and someone who has never experienced the full wrath of football hooliganism, i throroughly enjoyed and recommend it to anyone who is wondering whether to watch it or not.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 May 2004 (UK)

Also Known As:

Football Factory

Filming Locations:

Bermondsey, London, England, UK

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,228,003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vertigo Films, Rockstar Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1