Films A to Z
The Long Good Friday
- Runtime:
- 114 min.
- Year of Production:
- 1980
- Country:
- England
- Director:
- Cast:
- Bob Hoskins
Helen Mirren
Dave King
Bryan Marshall
Derek Thompson
Eddie Constantine
Brosnan Pierce
P.H. Moriarty - Production Company:
- Black Lion Films/Calendar Productions
- Berlinale Section:
- Homage
- Berlinale Category:
- Feature Film
Cockney gang boss Harold Shand wants to go legit and make London the “capital of Europe” by building an Olympic stadium in the Docklands. He is hoping to persuade the New York mafia to invest in the venture. But no sooner have its representatives arrived before Harold runs into problems. Two members of his gang have been murdered and he himself is almost killed by a bomb. To save face with the Americans, he needs to find the culprits right away – and he’s not squeamish about how he does it…
Behind every successful man is a strong woman. In this case, she’s Helen Mirren. In The Long Good Friday, she eschews playing Victoria as a typical eye-candy gun moll in favour of embodying a self-reliant woman. When Shand starts to lose control over not only his business, but also himself, it’s Victoria who calls the shots. Helen Mirren had a great influence in how the role was written during script development. Just as the film almost prophetically envisions a reshaping of the urban landscape into a “new London”, Mirren’s portrayal provides a role model of a new image of women.
FILMOGRAFIE John Mackenzie (selection)
2003 Quicksand - Schmutziges Geld
2000 Allein gegen das Verbrechen
1985 The Innocent
1980 Rififi am Karfreitag (The Long Good Friday)
1980 The Long Good Friday
1971 One Brief Summer
John Mackenzie @IMDb
The Long Good Friday @IMDb
Trailer