By David Raether
For many years, the gangster picture was just as much an American institution as the Western. In fact, thanks to Great Depression-era films such as Scarface (1932), The Public Enemy (1931), and Little Caesar (1931), the gangster became a sort of iconic American character type.
When we think about the leading figures in American life from the 1930s, who comes to mind first—Pearl S. Buck or Machine Gun Kelly? Sure, Buck won a Nobel Prize in Literature, but Machine Gun Kelly robbed banks with a machine gun.
The rest of world cinema was slow to adopt the gangster picture as a form worth exploring. The only notable Gangster picture I can even think of from Europe (until recent years) was the French Gangster film Bob Le Flambeur (Bob the Gangster) (1956). Now, that’s a great film and a precursor to the French New Wave, but it sure can’t match the visceral excitement of an American movie like White Heat (1959). By the way, you should still add Bob Le Flambeur to your queue; it’s a very different take on the Gangster picture and one you should see at some point in your life.
The gangster picture has since become an increasingly popular form throughout the world. Some of my favorites from around the world include Tsotsi (2005) from South Africa, Sonatine (1993) from Japan, and, of course, the magnificent City of God (2002) from Brazil. I rate that film right up there with Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) as the two greatest gangster pictures of all time.
The British didn’t really get around to making a gangster picture until 1948’s Brighton Rock. This movie is an adaptation of a Graham Green novel. It’s a bleak portrait of the life of a young gangster in Brighton. Another one of my favorite British gangster films is 1971’s Get Carter, starring Michael Caine as an Englishman who comes home to the hardscrabble northern English city of Newcastle after years of living as a gangster in London. The original version is not available, but the American remake in 2000 starring Sylvester Stallone is pretty good. Stallone’s Carter returns home to Seattle after years as a mob enforcer in Las Vegas. Caine actually has a secondary role in the film, and neither of them sounds like Seattle natives, I’ll just say that.
The gangster picture really wasn’t a regular part of British film culture until Guy Ritchie’s now-classic Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). Since that time, the British film industry has cranked out a number of outstanding gangster pictures. Here are my favorites that you should strongly consider adding to your queue.
Exuberant, funny, violent, and stylish, this is considered the best British gangster movie since The Long Good Friday. It can be largely credited for kickstarting the gangster film tradition in British cinema, as the British movie industry began to regularly turn out gangster pictures following its success. It’s easy to see why.
Written and directed by Guy Ritchie, this is an exhilarating and fast-paced tale of the London underworld. It’s a real blast to watch, and often quite funny. This film introduced Jason Statham and has a cameo by Sting. And it has one of the best soundtracks in any movie I’ve ever seen.
Here’s another gem from Guy Ritchie, and again, it’s just as stylish as its predecessor Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. This film boasts an ensemble cast that features Brad Pitt as an Irish Traveller—a group often considered the Irish branch of the Gypsies but who are, in fact, ethnically Irish. They speak a distinctive language, and their accent is quite different from the standard Irish accent. Hats off to Pitt’s dialogue coach for this performance. The premise of this lively and fast-paced film revolves around competing criminals who are all after a stolen 86-carat diamond.
The rest of the cast is spectacular, boasting names like Jason Statham, Dennis Farina, and Benicio Del Toro. This is such a highly entertaining movie. Plus, for those who didn’t get enough of a shirtless Brad Pitt in Fight Club, there’s plenty of that here as well.
This is the first in a series of four films about London’s criminal underworld, all based on Carlton Leach’s bracing memoir, Muscle (2003). Each title in the series was written and directed by Will and Julian Gilbey. As a teenager, Leach became a member of the Inter City Farm (ICF), a notorious gang of hooligans who support the London soccer club, West Ham United. Hooligan culture nearly destroyed soccer in England, as the sport became associated with gangs and violence in the stands and around the stadiums on game days.
After making his reputation as a hooligan, Leach moved into darker criminal activities, including dealing the drug ecstasy. Ricci Harnett stars in this grim and chillingly violent tale. It is definitely worth a rental. By the way, if you are interested in learning more about soccer hooligans, Bill Buford published an excellent book on the topic, Among the Thugs (1983).
In the 1950s and 60s, the Kray twins—Ronald and Reggie—were the dominant and ruthless gangsters of East London, involved in murders, armed robberies, protection rackets, arson, and plenty more. They later became celebrities of sorts when they opened a nightclub in London’s West End. It became the place to be seen, and the club was often filled with celebrities. Ronnie wrote later in his memoir: “Those were the best years (…) me and my brother ruled London. We were f***ing untouchable.” The twins have inspired four movies based on their lives, including the first title, The Krays (1990), which starred Gary Kemp, the lead singer of the 1980s power pop group, Spandau Ballet.
Legend tells the story of the brothers’ relationship and dealings during the 1960s and features an amazing performance by Tom Hardy as both Ronnie and Reggie. It was written and directed by Brian Helgeland, who wrote the Academy Award-winning screenplay for L.A. Confidential (1997) and Mystic River (2003). He also wrote and directed the Jackie Robinson biopic, 42 (2013).
David Raether is a veteran TV writer and essayist. He worked for 12 years as a television sitcom writer/producer, including a 111-episode run on the ground-breaking ABC comedy “Roseanne.” His essays have been published by Salon.com, The Times of London, and Longforms.org, and have been lauded by The Atlantic Magazine and the BBC World Service. His memoir, Homeless: A Picaresque Memoir from Our Times, is awaiting publication.