You can’t beat the Brits for onscreen gangsters
IHAVE American relatives, have visited the country many times and have American friends. But as a nation, the United States consistently annoys me, because of its insular attitude to the world, its aggressive exportation of everything from Coca Cola to Starsky and Hutch, its gun laws, Disneyland politics and election of Donald Trump.
It did it again when I read the results of a survey by Showcase Cinemas, a chain with theatres around the UK but headquarters in the US, to find the 10 best gangster films ever made. And yes, they are all American: The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas, Reservoir Dogs, Bonnie and Clyde, The Untouchables, Scarface, Gangs of New York, The French Connection and Bugsy Malone.
They can make very good films across the Pond, but so can we, which is why, in response, I compiled a British top 10 of the same genre in an attempt to present a cultural balance.
We can start as far back as 1948 with Brighton Rock, adapted from the Graham Greene novel, and starring Richard Attenborough as a small time hoodlum.
Michael Caine was at his best in Get Carter (1971) as a London gangster looking to avenge his brother’s death in the North East, and Bob Hoskins was born to play villains. He did it low key with Mona Lisa (1986) and was brilliant in The Long Good Friday (1980) with an all-star cast that included Helen Mirren.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) gave Jason Statham an outing and provided shotguntoting Vinnie Jones with a Hollywood career.
Safe cracker Ray Winstone was bullied into one last job by evil Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast (2000), Tom Hardy brought a hard edge to Legend, about the Kray twins, in 2015, Daniel Craig twisted his way through the complexities of Layer Cake (2004), In Bruges (2008) was a reflective and violent black comedy with Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes, and we still have that utter classic The Italian Job from 1969, with Michael Caine again, and a cast that included Noel Coward and Benny Hill.
Now surely those, without American influence or bias, should be in anybody’s top 10, and if you don’t agree, I’ll send Carter round to check on your knee caps.
They can make very good films across the Pond, but so can we, which is why I compiled a British top 10 of the same genre in an attempt to present a cultural balance