26 The Long Good Friday

[Narshty]

The Long Good Friday

[img]http://criterion_production.s3.amazonaws.com/release_images/269/26_box_348x49_w100.jpg[/img]

Bob Hoskins, in his breakthrough film role, stars as a London racketeer fast losing control of his gangland empire; Helen Mirren shines as his classy moll. John Mackenzie’s stylish thriller is a marriage of gangster flicks from both sides of the Atlantic. Criterion presents The Long Good Friday in an exclusive widescreen transfer.

Disc Features

- The original British and American theatrical trailers

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

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[colinr0380]

This has to be a forerunner for most neglected film in the Criterion Collection. The super-ugly cover and no-frills non-auteur status seems to have rendered this less than desirable for most. Nevertheless, the transfer still looks remarkable for a low-bitrate non-anamorphic disc from 1998, and as far as the film goes, I'd place it in the top five or so British films of the last 30 years.

It's the sort of film Britain seems to find almost impossible to make on a consistent basis - an intelligent, engaging, story-driven drama. The opening is perhaps a bit too confusing for its own good, but the rest of the picture is simply terrific, moving with a steady pace, punctuated with some fantastic set-pieces (such as the horrific-yet-blackly-comic machete interrogation sequence) and one of the best closing speeches since Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath. And Bob Hoskins' face in the final shot is worth the price of admission alone.

Any other thoughts?

I'd agree, a great film. I'd hope for it to be a candidate for a re-release sometime as well since the UK Anchor Bay is anamorphic and has an excellent commentary and NFT Interview with John Mackenzie and Bob Hoskins. Its great to see Eddie Constantine outside of Alphaville, Helen Mirren is a class act whatever shes in, Bob Hoskins is excellent in this (Mona Lisa is another of his best) and you even get a quick glimpse of Pierce Brosnan!

And its an excellent story with great music, one of my favourites and its the selection of eclectic or otherwise neglected film choices that makes Criterion one of my favourite labels.

[cdnchris]

I remember when I first saw this a few years ago. Bought it right when Criterion released it and only had three words I could think at the time: "Best! Movie! Ever!" I always liked Bob Hoskins so this one was a no-brainer purchase for me and I was far from disappointed. I watched it again a couple of months ago and it's still just as gripping and exciting as when I first saw it.

I'm disappointed with John Mackenzie's latest filmography, though. I rented Quicksand no too long ago because I saw it had Michael Keaton, Michael Caine and was directed by Mackenzie. How could it go wrong!? Oh, how it did!!

[Narshty]

The opening sequence of the film is dreadful. It's the most needlessly confusing opener to a film I've just about ever seen, and although it does "make sense" later on, there's still no need to baffle the audience as soon as the opening credits have finished.

[cdnchris]

Agreed. Had to watch it twice right away. The first time I watched it I was totally confused by the beginning. Yes it made sense later on, but I still had to go back and watch it again right afterwards to completely understand it. I mean, having a very vague opener is not a bad thing, a lot of movies can use them to really draw you in with them because of the mystery, but the beginning of this almost turned me off of it because it seemed so choppy and aggrevating. Still a really cool movie, though.

Of course, if the beginning wasn't vague and confusing we'd probably know who was after Hoskins and why and part of the fun of the movie (for me anyways) was trying to figure out, along with Hoskins, why someone was after him now. That's why I always figured it was done in that manner. Still aggrevating, though.

[dx23]

Davis DVD is reporting that Anchor Bay is releasing the Long Good Friday to DVD on April 4th. Is the Criterion version going out of print or is this just another case of more than one company holding the DVD rights, ala Time Bandits and Life of Brian?

[ianungstad]

I doubt it will go out of print. The titles that Anchor Bay share will Criterion, Time Bandits, Life of Brian, Man Who Fell To Earth, Kind Hearts and Coronets etc. all have both AB and CC editions in print and leave it to the consumer to decide which to purchase. I don't really see that changing.

[Jeff]

Anchor Bay has been the rights-holder for many years now, and licensed the film to Criterion. Really no reason to choose the Criterion here, it has no supplemental content. The Anchor Bay is likely to be cheaper, with a better anamorphic transfer to boot.

[Gordon]

The Anchor Bay UK edition has a very good anamorphic transfer, Q&A with Hoskins and John Mackenzie and a frank and funny commentary by Mackenzie.

The Criterion Collection? I've shit 'em!

[HistoryProf]

It would appear Anchor Bay managed to come up with an even uglier cover

At least it's now "Explosive!"

[domino harvey]

holy shit, that cover brought inexplicable lols

[Harold Gervais]

It would appear Anchor Bay managed to come up with an even uglier cover

At least it's now "Explosive!"

Ugh. I imagine the disc will be almost identical to the R2 edition which features a slightly better, and simpler cover design. The R2 was good enough it got me to sell off my Criterion.

[Narshty]

Beaver comparison between the Anchor Bay R1 and Criterion.

To my eyes this looks like exactly the same transfer converted into 16x9. No biggie. It's 1/3 cheaper and with the commentary and hour-long documentary should be a no-brainer.

[Narshty]

Sad to say, the new Anchor Bay disc isn't quite as nice as the Criterion. It's cleaner in terms of dirt and specks, but is a bit more grainy and smudgy and the colours have been notched up just a little too much - fleshtones often lean uncomfortably towards the orange end of the spectrum. It lacks a certain sheen that the Criterion has too. On its own, it's perfectly good, but I'm going to keep hold of my Criterion instead. The extras are good stuff (the documentary has a faintly tacky slickness, but the information is totally solid), but it's not the kind of film that requires a mass of background information to enjoy it anyway. The best thing on the Anchor Bay is the first-draft screenplay entitled "The Paddy Factor" which has no end of differences with the finished film.

If you don't have a copy, go for the Anchor Bay, but if you have the Criterion, I'm not entirely convinced it's worth trading in.

[dx23]

According to the imdb.com, Long Good Friday is getting a remake directed by none other that Paul W. S. Anderson. Yeah, that one. the one who made Ultraviolet and Resident Evil.

From the imdb.com:

'The Long Good Friday' To Get Remake

Classic British crime film The Long Good Friday is getting a Hollywood makeover in Miami under the direction of Resident Evil moviemaker Paul W. S. Anderson. The 1980 original starred Bob Hoskins as a London gangster whose criminal empire comes under attack from a wave of mysterious bombings. But production company Handmade Films says the new movie would be "refreshed" with a modern setting. Chairman Patrick Meehan says, "The original was a highly praised classic and one of Handmade's most prized films, but its reach was limited primarily to the U.K. Following continued interest from the U.S., we realized this remake could attract audiences worldwide with an updated setting and contemporary overtones. When Paul presented his creative vision for this project, we were instantly convinced that this is a story that could be successfully refreshed, yet leave the integrity of the original intact." No actors have so far been cast for the project.

[cdnchris]

And apparently the remake is true:

It's not the IRA in ours, but it is another terrorist organisation, and we're doing it in Miami, so we're re-imagining it for America. Otherwise the story beats and characters will pretty much play out.

It will have the same human cortège scene at the start; the spitting in the face; he's been away somewhere, but it won't have been to New York...I think the script [of the original film], Barrie Keeffe's original screenplay, is so good. And the story is a great story with a great twist in it. And it's pretty remarkable that your lead character is a gangster and you really root for him.

I think it's a great movie for a remake, because outside of the UK it's virtually unknown and it was very much a movie of its time. It really captured that London of that time in the same way we're hopefully going to capture Miami of right now.

[tryavna]

so we're re-imagining it for America

...thereby eliminating virtually everything that made the original special.

[colinr0380]

I think it's a great movie for a remake, because outside of the UK it's virtually unknown and it was very much a movie of its time.

Wasn't almost exactly the same comment made back when The Italian Job was being remade? Or The Wicker Man? Or Get Carter? And look how well those reimaginings turned out!

Sadly now I guess the general public in the US are even less aware of the orignals, instead associating the titles, if with anything, as being that terrible Mark Whalberg/Nicholas Cage/Sylvester Stallone film! (damn you Stallone for using cinema as your playground! )

So basically this is going to be Miami Vice (or the criminal equivalent, with the crime kingpin jetting about ostentatiously in a speedboat) with Al Qaeda replacing the IRA to bring things up to date?

[Mr Sausage]

And it's pretty remarkable that your lead character is a gangster and you really root for him.

That's not really all that remarkable.

[zedz]

And it's pretty remarkable that your lead character is a gangster and you really root for him.

That's not really all that remarkable.

Maybe this hack director will have something new to contribute after all, since he's obviously never seen any gangster movie ever made.

[flyonthewall2983]

Saw this today, loved it. And yeah, Hoskins plays probably the most likable gangster I've ever seen in a movie. The scene with him at the pool is really quite wrenching.

[dx23]

It appears that the Anchor Bay discontinued their DVD. Would Criterion do a re-release of this film and Mona Lisa on Blu-ray?

[HarryLong]

Saw this today, loved it. And yeah, Hoskins plays probably the most likable gangster I've ever seen in a movie. The scene with him at the pool is really quite wrenching.

Hoskins has the ability to play the sleaziest, slimiest, most ruthless characters imaginable (and he's played quite a few) and still be immensely enjoyable, if not downright loveable. It's a gift, I guess.
edit: While writing the above, I decided to check to see if by any chance a fondly remembered Masterpiece Theater production Hoskins did, FLICKERS, was available. Lo & behold, it is.

[flyonthewall2983]

^Absolutely true. It also makes me wonder if his Capone would have been better than De Niro's if Bob never accepted doing The Untouchables.

Is the remake still on? The news of it posted here was nearly 3 years ago, and nothing has been reported on it much since.

[mteller]

Blu-Ray coming from Image 8/24

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