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Film4 Productions
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An old gangster is advised that Freddie Mays would leave jail after thirty years in prison. His mood changes and he recalls when he was a young punk and who joined Freddie's gang—a man he both envied and ultimately betrayed.
Filipe Manuel Neto
Aug 29, 2022 · via TMDB
**It's not a movie for everyone, it's extremely violent and tense, but it works very well.** It's not easy to make a good gangster movie. Sometimes it feels like they've done everything that could possibly be appealing or challenging, and that each new production is limited to chewing on and revisiting what's already been done by others, usually better. This film, set in London, brings us into a universe of violence and tension, of envy and madness, which is refreshingly dark and appealing, yet not really new. The screenplay follows the criminal path of a British mobster whose name is never revealed and who, due to his brutality and competence, becomes one of the trusted men of Freddy Mays, one of the crime lords in London in the late 60s. However, he is ambitious, and his desire is, in the future, to be like his boss is: brutal, ruthless, but elegant and sober. It's a film where we follow the same character through thirty years of ultraviolence (I'm not using this word randomly, as you'll see) and sheer madness. The cast has several strong names, and the main character is played by two actors: in the older chronologies, it is Paul Bettany, and today, it is the experienced and skilled Malcolm McDowell, who has participated in other intense films, such as _Clockwork Orange_. In fact, I can't help but think that Alex, the main character of that movie, iconic in this actor's career, could have evolved into a twisted and crazed figure like the one McDowell played here. The impeccable work, both his and Bettany's, is one of the pillars that sustains this film and that makes it truly intense and enjoyable. Both have memorable lines and dialogue. Another truly outstanding actor is David Thewlis, who harmoniously combines harshness and brutality with the sensitivity and almost aristocratic good manners with which he moves among other criminals. Saffron Burrows is beautiful, and works great as a love interest. The rest of the cast just tries to keep up with the main actors. On a technical level, the film does a truly brilliant job of building and controlling the environment... the film knows how to build and manipulate the dramatic tension, letting it build up as time goes by, until a climax where we feel the lack of control and the loss of the notion of reality experienced by the central character. The slightly blurry cinematography, with many of the scenes shot at night or in low-light places (bars, rundown apartments, etc.), or the personality of the character, which shatters) or that scene where the camera puts itself in the skin of a man about to be brutally murdered, and we end up being invited to feel that moment, the fragility and mental weakness that takes over. of a man facing death, certain and painful. The movie's speech is full of profanity and rude words, but that's something inevitable, given the movie that it is. However, I recognize that it is not a film for any audience, it is extremely violent and brutal. Finally, a word for the soundtrack, impeccable and very well conceived.
John Chard
Jun 7, 2015 · via TMDB
Look into my eyes! Gangster No. 1 is directed by Paul McGuigan and written by Johnny Ferguson, Louis Mellis and David Scinto. It stars David Thewlis, Paul Bettany, Malcolm McDowell, Saffron Burrows, Kenneth Cranham, Jamie Foreman and Eddie Marsan. Music is by John Dankworth and cinematography by Peter Sova. Gangster 55 (McDowell/Bettany as the younger version) looks back on his brutal life, on how he became a gangster... The British gangster genre of film was gathering apace in 2000. Guy Ritchie's Snatch would wow critics later in the year, while Ben Kingsley's ferocious turn in Sexy Beast (David Scinto and Louis Mellis co-write on that as well) would even get an Oscar nomination, yet Gangster No. 1 is the equal of both films but still doesn't have the acclaim afforded the others - undeservedly so. Predominantly set in the late 60s, with period flavours strong, pic doesn't pull its punches, and yet it is never over gratuitous with the violence and mania (but you do feel it big time) that surrounds Gangster 55 (Bettany brilliantly feral and frightening). It's with the characterisations where McGuigan's film gets its strength, we witness greed, blood lust and the yearning of power via chilling portrayals, set to the back drop of a scuzzy London underworld where even the vermin don't dare to dwell. This is a film not wanting to be loved thematically, but the top performances across the board and pic's ability to grab you by the throat - to not let go - makes it a rip-snorting slice of evil. Essential for those interested in the British gangster film revival of the noughties. 8/10
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
YouTube
YouTube
Paul Bettany
Younger Gangster
Malcolm McDowell
Gangster 55
David Thewlis
Freddie Mays
Jamie Foreman
Lenny Taylor
Saffron Burrows
Karen
Kenneth Cranham
Tommy
Eddie Marsan
Eddie Miller
Andrew Lincoln
Maxie King
Doug Allen
Mad John
Razaaq Adoti
Roland
Johnny Harris
Derek
Cavan Clerkin
Billy
Anton Valensi
Trevor
Jack Pierce
Jack the Lad
Lorraine Stanley
Attacker's Friend
David Kennedy
Fat Charlie
Emma Griffiths Malin
Julie
João Costa Menezes
—
Martin Wimbush
Judge
Adrian Biddle
Director of Photography
Jany Temime
Costume Design
Paul McGuigan
Director
Jina Jay
Casting
Peter Bowles
Executive Producer
Jonathan Cavendish
Producer
John Dankworth
Original Music Composer
David Scinto
Original Story
The Mad Game
Joker
Vindicta
The Shawshank Redemption
Pulp Fiction
City of God
Once Upon a Time in America
The Silence of the Lambs
Gladiator
The Shining
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Persona
Dressed to Kill
Ninja Scroll
The King of Comedy
Mystic River
The Color Purple
Boyz n the Hood
Blue Velvet
Sleepers
Harold and Maude
Police Story
A Dinner Date
Lady Snowblood
Eyes Wide Shut
Birdman of Alcatraz
The Great Silence
Fury
The Experiment
Scarface
The Lovers on the Bridge
Zulu
Jacob's Ladder
Eastern Promises
Dead Man Walking
Pickpocket
Running Out of Time
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer
In the Mouth of Madness
The Long Good Friday
C(r)ook
Munich
Snow Cake
Desert Hearts
Strange Days
The Spider Woman
if....
Colossus: The Forbin Project
Body Heat
Badlapur
The Docks of New York
Valkyrie
Batman Returns
Tsotsi
Death at a Funeral
Nothing but the Truth
Hellraiser
The Bank Job
The Baby of Mâcon
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Hard Candy
Mission: Impossible III
Sid and Nancy
Ocean's Thirteen
Tristan & Isolde
The Four Feathers
The Sugarland Express
Returner
DragonHeart
The Assassination of Richard Nixon
My Friend Dahmer
Next Door
Ocean's Eleven
Executive Decision
Joe Kidd
The Widow from Chicago
A Scandal in Paris
Derailed
The Karate Kid Part II
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Savage Streets
The Cell
Just Cause
Death Wish II
Madonnas
Sharky's Machine
Out for Justice
Saw IV
De Dominee
The Canterbury Tales
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Wonderland
Deceiver
Stone
The First Purge
Cazador De Asesinos
La leggenda del bandito e del campione
Hometown Killer
Gangsters' Multiverse
The Ice Harvest
Deadlier Than the Male
Outpost
Outside Providence
Beverly Hills Cop III
Affinity
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Metro
Kill 'em All
Mother's Day
Have a Nice Day
Solo mía
Tank Girl
Storm Warning
The Island of Thirty Coffins
Altered
Black Site Delta
Settle the Score
Black Snake
Havoc
DOA: Dead or Alive
Officer O'Brien
L'Homme qui n'était pas là
The Wyvern Mystery
Hollow Man II
I Demand Payment
Red Mist
Negresco
Blood Cousins
Hear No Evil
The Wrong Student
Shark
Irish Eyes
Jaws: The Revenge
D Company
Beretta's Island
Gangster
Yemaali
Neowolf
Shangrao Concentration Camp
It was a Midsummer's Afternoon
Blackness
Warriors of Horseshoe 3: Redemption
Mom
DARK ROOM
Chowchilla
Neverland
Oscar Ramos: Hitman
Talk to the Gun
Burnt Flowers
Food Chain Complexity in Afforested Grounds
Oath of Vengeance
The Last Chance
Blood Brothers: Perang Naga
Heat
The Untouchables
Lucky Number Slevin
Miller's Crossing
The Unforgivable
Undisputed II: Last Man Standing
Blood and Bone
Diablo
Wasteman
El padrino: The Latin Godfather
Sexy Beast
The Substitute
Avengement
Death Sentence
Payback
King of New York
In Hell
The Grissom Gang
Walking Tall
Dragged Across Concrete
Dillinger
The Valachi Papers
Convict
Dark City
War
Run All Night
Polar
John Doe: Vigilante
State Property
The Way of the Gun
El Gringo
Rise of the Footsoldier
Bugsy
Mobsters
The Air I Breathe
The Dead Pool
Belly
Death Wish 3
Motor City
Blood Work
Out for Justice
Clean
Wake of Death
Hard to Kill
Triple 9
The Crew
Lansky
Code of Silence
10th & Wolf
Sleepless
Black Caesar
Absolution
In the Blood
A Score to Settle
Oct 21, 2000
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Seven Dorms of Death
2015
Preview
1982
Sign in to vote
Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
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