Corrie Film Club

The film on 11th June is The Long Good Friday (1980, UK, directed by John Mackenzie, 114 mins, Cert 18).

In the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand (Bob Hoskins) has big plans to get the American Mafia to bankroll his transformation of a derelict area of London into the possible venue for a future Olympic Games. However, a series of bombings targets his empire on the very weekend the Americans are in town. Shand is convinced there is a traitor in his organization, and sets out to eliminate the rat in typically ruthless fashion. The film provided Bob Hoskins with his breakthrough film role, and also stars Helen Mirren.

The Guardian’s review said “This country’s a worse risk than Cuba! It’s a banana republic!” That is how Britain is brusquely described in this classic Brit gangster melodrama from 1980. It features a criminal property developer in trouble with rich Americans and the IRA. (A modern-day remake would turn them into Russians and Islamic State.) The film has dated a bit, but it’s surprising how very cleverly it intuits the property boom of London in 2015, and its yearning to be at the centre of a globalised economy, while at the same time absorbing both 70s drear and 80s aspiration.”

Corrie and Sannox Village Hall, 8pm, 11th June, everyone welcome.