| The Long Good Friday | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Mackenzie |
| Screenplay by | Barrie Keeffe |
| Produced by | Barry Hanson |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Phil Meheux |
| Music by | Francis Monkman |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | HandMade Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 114 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £930,000 |
| Box office | £426,308 (UK)[1] |
The Long Good Friday is a 1980 Britishgangster film[2] directed byJohn Mackenzie from a screenplay byBarrie Keeffe. StarringBob Hoskins andHelen Mirren, the film, set inLondon, weaves together events and concerns of the late 1970s, including mid-levelpolitical andpolice corruption andIRA fund-raising. The supporting cast featuresEddie Constantine,Dave King,Bryan Marshall,Derek Thompson,P.H. Moriarty,Paul Freeman andPierce Brosnan in his film debut.
The film was completed in 1979,[3] but because of delays, it did not have a general release until early 1981. It received positive reviews from critics, and Hoskins was nominated for theBAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and won anEvening Standard Film Award for his performance as gangster Harold Shand. It was number 21 on theBritish Film Institute'sTop 100 British films list and provided Hoskins with his breakthrough film role. In 2016, British film magazineEmpire rankedThe Long Good Friday 19th on its list of The 100 best British films.[4]
A man delivers a large sum of cash to an unknown recipient inBelfast and in the process takes some of it for himself. As the recipients count the money in a country farmhouse, uniformed gunmen attack them. Soon afterwards Phil, the driver for the delivery, is kidnapped and killed. Later, the delivery man, Colin, is murdered at aLondon swimming pool.
Harold Shand, a London gangster, aspires to become a legitimate businessman and is trying to form a partnership with Charlie, anAmerican mafioso, with a plan to redevelopLondon Docklands in association with local construction bossCouncillor Harris. Shand's world is suddenly destabilised by a series of bomb attacks on his property and murders of his associates, including his old friend Colin. He and his henchmen try to uncover the attackers' identities by threatening corrupt police officers, informers, and other criminals, whilst simultaneously trying not to worry their American visitors, who they fear will abandon Shand if they think he is not in full control. Shand's girlfriend, Victoria, tells the Americans Shand is under attack by an unknown enemy but assures them he will quickly resolve the matter. She starts to suspect that Shand's right-hand man, Jeff, knows who is behind the attacks.
After some investigation, Shand confronts Jeff, who confesses that under pressure from Councillor Harris, he sent Colin and Phil to Belfast to deliver money to theProvisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on Harris's behalf. He explains that three of the IRA's top men were killed on the same night the money was delivered. Shand realises the IRA have concluded that he sold them out to the security forces and pocketed the missing cash, and are targeting his organisation in revenge. Vowing to destroy the IRA in London, he accidentally kills Jeff in a rage.
After confronting Harris, Shand sets up a meeting with the IRA's London leadership at astock car racetrack. He ostensibly offers them £60,000 in return for a ceasefire butdouble crosses them and has them and Harris shot as they are counting the cash. Believing his enemies are dead and the problem solved, Shand travels to theSavoy Hotel to triumphantly inform Charlie and his assistant Tony, only to find the Americans preparing to leave, having been spooked by the carnage. In response to their derisory comments about the UK, Shand berates them for their arrogance and dismisses them as cowards.
Leaving the hotel, Shand steps into his chauffeur-driven car only to find it has been commandeered by IRA assassins. He sees Victoria also kidnapped in another car. As his car speeds to an unknown destination, Shand contemplates his fate.
The film was directed byJohn Mackenzie and produced for £930,000[5] by Barry Hanson from a script byBarrie Keeffe, with a soundtrack byFrancis Monkman; it screened at the Cannes, Edinburgh and London Film Festivals in 1980.[6]
Under the titleThe Paddy Factor,[7] Keeffe wrote the original story for Hanson when the latter worked forEuston Films,[5] a subsidiary ofThames Television. Euston did not make the film, but Hanson bought the rights for his own company, Calendar Films.[5] Hanson designed the film for the cinema and all contracts were negotiated under a film, not a TV, agreement, but the production was eventually financed by Black Lion, a subsidiary ofLew Grade'sITC Entertainment for transmission via Grade'sATV on theITV network.[6] The film was commissioned byCharles Denton, at the time both programme controller of ATV and managing director of Black Lion.[5] After Grade saw the finished film, he allegedly objected to what he saw as its glorification of the IRA.[3]
The film was scheduled to be televised with heavy cuts on 24 March 1981.[6] Because of the planned cuts, in late 1980, Hanson attempted to buy the film back from ITC to prevent ITV from screening the film. The cuts, he said, were "execrable"[5][6] and yielded "about 75 minutes of film that was literal nonsense".[3]
Before the planned ITV transmission,George Harrison's company,HandMade Films, bought the rights to the film from ITC for around £200,000 less than the production costs.[3] It gave the film a cinema release.[8]
The role of Harold Shand was written with Hoskins in mind. In 1981, it was reported that Hoskins was suing both Black Lion and Calendar Films to prevent their planned release of a US TV version in which his voice would be dubbed byEnglish Midlands actorDavid Daker.[6] Ultimately, Hoskins' voice was not dubbed.
The Long Good Friday was the film debut ofPierce Brosnan, then 25. It was also the final role ofGeorge Coulouris.
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OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 97% based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads "Bob Hoskins commands a deviously sinister performance inThe Long Good Friday—a gangster flick with ferocious intelligence, tight plotting, and razor-edged thrills."[9]
| Award | Year | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Academy Film Award | 1982 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Bob Hoskins | Nominated |
| Edgar Award | 1983 | Best Motion Picture Screenplay | Barrie Keeffe | Won |
| Evening Standard British Film Award | 1982 | Best Actor | Bob Hoskins | Won |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award | 1982 | Best Foreign Film | John Mackenzie | Nominated |
The Long Good Friday was number 21 on theBritish Film Institute's list of the "BFI Top 100 British films" list. In 2016,Empire rankedThe Long Good Friday 19th on its list of "The 100 Best British films".[4]
Keeffe wrote a sequel,Black Easter Monday, set 20 years after the events of the first film. It opens with Shand escaping from the IRA after police pull his car over. Shand retires to Jamaica, then returns to stop theYardies from taking over the East End.[10] The film was never made. In one of his last interviews, Keeffe seemed unconcerned by that: "In some ways, I’m glad we didn't, because sequels are usually diminishing returns. To put it up there withCasablanca, no one wantsCasablanca II."[11]
The final scene was referenced in the filmsMichael Clayton (2007) andThe Gentlemen (2019) as well as in the ending of the TV seriesBrian Pern (2017).