Every country has their own archetypal characters and formats, especially when it comes to crime films. France loves slick caper films with cold, removed protagonists. Italy loves Dirty Harry knockoffs with hot-headed cops and criminals. Japan loves noble gangsters trying to fight against the inevitability of their fate.
In England, one of the strongest recurring themes in crime cinema is the interplay of class, especially when it comes to lower class thugs getting out of their depth with bigger, badder, and nastier situations. Guy Ritchie cut his teeth on exactly that kind of interplay with Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch.
There’s no better representation of this stylistic cul-de-sac than The Long Good Friday. A secondary school dropout and lower-class tough himself, Hoskins was amazingly deft and channeling these kinds of roles. His ability to be at once violent and menacing, while also ingratiating and tender, gave him the perfect affect of a calculating killer, for whom a switch could be flipped at any moment.
Coupled with a wonderful performance from Hellen Mirren, a hard-driving score, and wonderful costuming and set design from Handmade Films, The Long Good Friday is a stone cold classic that stands as the personification of the British gangster film.
Special Features (via criterion.com)
- New 4K digital restoration, approved by director of photography Phil Méheux, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
- Audio commentary with director John Mackenzie
-
An Accidental Studio (2019), a documentary about the early years of Handmade Films
- Introduction by Criterion Collection curatorial director Ashley Clark
- Documentary about the making of the film featuring interviews with Mackenzie and actors Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren
- Interviews with Méheux and screenwriter Barrie Keeffe
- Program comparing the soundtracks for the UK and U.S. releases
- Trailers
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Ryan Gilbey
