Tagarchief: Gangster Films

Dungeon Classics #45: Eastern Promises

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon’s Chief Editor JK sorts through the Dungeon’s DVD-collection to look for old cult favorites….

Eastern Promises (2007, UK, Canada, USA)

Director: David Cronenberg
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl
Running Time: 100 mins.

The master of body horror David Cronenberg made an outing in the gangster genre with A History of Violence, one of the surprise hits of 2005. I guess he liked it, because he soon followed it up with another gangster movie called Eastern Promises, once again starring Viggo Mortensen. A young Russian girl dies in childbirth, leaving a diary found by nurse Anna (Naomi Watts), who wants to return the baby to its family. Unable to read Russian, Anna seeks help and meets Semyon, a restaurant owner and leader of the brutal Russian mob Vory v Zakone. His enforcers – Kirill (Vincent Cassel), a violent, closeted homosexual, and Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), a cunning newcomer – compete for Semyon’s approval. The diary reveals the girl was one of Semyon’s prostitutes, her life story unfolding in voice-over as the film’s central thread. The casting of non-Russians in the leading roles turns out very well. Mortensen speaks Russian like a pro. The details of the reality the filmmakers created are also spot-on: the underworld body tattoos that tell a person’s life story, the folk music, the accents, it is all very well executed. A few scenes stand out: Nikolai’s initiation ritual and a brutal fight in a bathhouse most notably. The characters are also beautifully realised, especially Cassel’s Kirill. You can feel the tension rise as his father swaps Nikolai for Kirill like he swaps a Ukrainian girl for a case of cheap booze. It is only a shame that ultimately too little is done with these characters. After we learn a big secret, the movie pretty much ends abruptly. Still works on many levels, and the cast and crew’s craftsmanship make it definitely worth viewing.

 

Dungeon Classics #44: A History of Violence

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon’s Chief Editor JK sorts through the Dungeon’s DVD-collection to look for old cult favorites….

A History of Violence (2005, USA, Germany)

Director: David Cronenberg
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris
Running Time: 96 mins.

David Cronenberg, the master of body horror, has long been fascinated by duality and fractured identities – most brilliantly explored in Dead Ringers (1988). In A History of Violence, adapted from a graphic novel, family man Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) reassures his young daughter that monsters don’t exist. Yet, as fate would have it, two real monsters arrive in their quiet town of Millbrook, Indiana, intent on another murderous spree. Tom stops them, but the media frenzy that follows draws the attention of gangsters who expose his dark past as a Philadelphia mob enforcer. Meanwhile, Tom’s sharp-witted son outsmarts an alpha male schoolyard bully, sparking a reflection on humanity’s violent, primal nature – our constant lust for power and sex. This realization weighs heavily on the son, who soon finds himself drawn into the violent legacy of the man his father once was. The ‘history’ in the title is richly layered: Tom’s hidden past, the family’s shared burden, and, quite literally, a story steeped in bloodshed. The film boasts a stellar cast, with William Hurt delivering a standout performance as Tom’s weirdo brother, Richie. It’s a history worth uncovering.

F1rst Season Review: MobLand

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

In 1980, Pierce Brosnan made his screen debut in The Long Good Friday, one of the greatest British gangster films ever made, starring Helen Mirren. Now, 45 years later, Brosnan and Mirren reunite as the power couple at the heart of SkyShowtime’s hit series MobLand, joined by Tom Hardy and Paddy Considine in pivotal roles.

The show’s creator, Ronan Bennett, is no stranger to crime drama, having previously helmed the British series Top Boy and written the screenplay for Michael Mann’s Public Enemies (2009), the John Dillinger biopic.

The first two episodes of MobLand are directed by Guy Ritchie, and the series takes off like a rocket. We’re thrown into the chaos as Eddie Harrigan – the volatile grandson of gangster boss Conrad Harrison (Brosnan) – causes mayhem in a London nightclub, all set to the high-energy beats of The Prodigy’s Firestarter.

Tom Hardy plays Harry Da Souza, the Harrigans’ fixer, called in to clean up Eddie’s mess. But this is only the beginning. As the Harrigans – all of them unhinged, especially Conrad and his wife Maeve (Mirren) – plunge into a brutal gang war with rival Richie Stevenson (Geoff Bell), Harry’s workload only intensifies. The first season unfolds as a single, gripping narrative across ten episodes, chronicling this violent feud.

What sets MobLand apart is Maeve’s role: she’s far from the typical ‘gangster’s wife’. She’s a full-fledged partner in crime, her schemes and manipulations often outshining even her husband’s ruthlessness. Together, they’re the Macbeths of London’s underworld.

That said, the story doesn’t break much new ground. The show occasionally veers into the absurd, particularly in a Rambo-esque warehouse scene where Harry single-handedly takes out dozens of gangsters. There are plot twists and brutal murders – some land, others don’t. In a masterclass like The Sopranos, these elements feel organic. Here, they sometimes come across as a smokescreen for the lack of deeper substance, even if the series remains entertaining.

Another issue is the sheer savagery of the lead characters. They’re so cruel and unlikable that it’s hard to care about their fates. At times, I even found myself rooting for their downfall, which isn’t usually the point of a story told from one perspective.

The season ends with the introduction of a new female gang boss, Kat McAllister (Janet McTeer of Ozark fame), but she didn’t leave much of an impression on me. So, I’m not particularly hyped for Season 2.

Adding to the uncertainty, news broke this week that Tom Hardy has been fired from the show due to troublesome behavior, meaning fans will have to watch Season 3 without him.

Rating:

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘America’s Most Colorful Era!’

Directed by:
Raoul Walsh

Written by:
Jerry Wald (screenplay)
Richard Macaulay (screenplay)
Robert Rossen (screenplay)
Mark Hellinger (story)

Cast:
James Cagney (Eddie Bartlett), Priscilla Lane (Jean Sherman), Humphrey Bogart (George Hally), Gladys George (Panama Smith), Jeffrey Lynn (Lloyd Hart), Frank McHugh (Danny Green), Paul Kelly (Nick Brown), Elizabeth Risdon (Mrs. Sherman), Ed Keane (Henderson), Joe Sawyer (The Sergeant)

The Roaring Twenties opens in the immediate aftermath of World War I, as soldiers James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart return home in 1919. They find a nation grappling with economic hardship and rising living costs just as Prohibition is ratified, turning alcohol into both a forbidden fruit and a lucrative business opportunity.

The film follows Eddie Bartlett (Cagney), a former doughboy who seizes the moment and rises to power in the bootlegging underworld. Along the way, he reconnects with Jean Sherman, a woman he corresponded with during the war, securing her a singing job at a nightclub. His path eventually crosses again with his old comrade George Hally (Bogart), now a rival booze importer. Their partnership sours, and tensions escalate when they double-cross fellow bootlegger Nick Brown.

The movie by Raould Walch, who would ten years later make the best gangster film yet at that point – White Heat – is a trendsetter in more than one way. Walsh crafts The Roaring Twenties with a dynamic, almost documentary-like style. Crisp black-and-white cinematography is punctuated by newsreel-style interludes, lending the film an energetic, GoodFellas-esque rhythm. The story of the ‘working gangster’ feels like a clear influence on Scorsese, blending ambition, a jetset lifestyle, and eventually an ugly downfall.

Cagney delivers another magnetic performance as Eddie Bartlett, a character who begins as a mild-mannered entrepreneur, but grows increasingly volatile as his world unravels. What sets The Roaring Twenties apart is its focus on redemption: Eddie’s final act is a selfless one, driven by love rather than greed. It is a rare moral twist for the genre.

Like most gangster tales, it ends with a memorable line, this time spoken by a dame: “He used to be a big shot.”

Rating:

Quote:
EDDIE BARTLETT: “I just ran into a streak of bad luck, that’s all. I’ll be there on top again. I just got to figure out a new angle.”

Trivia:
Gladys George replaced Ann Sheridan (the female star of Cagney’s previous gangster film Angels with Dirty Faces) who had replaced Lee Patrick who had replaced Glenda Farrell for the character of Panama Smith.