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Gangster No. 1

Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom

2000

103 Min
Color
1.85:1
English
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
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DIR Paul McGuigan

EXEC Peter Bowles

PROD Jonathan Cavendish, Norma Heyman

SCR Johnny Ferguson

DP Peter Sova

CAST Paul Bettany, David Thewlis, Malcolm McDowell, Saffron Burrows, Eddie Marsan, Kenneth Cranham, Jamie Foreman, Andrew Lincoln, Doug Allen, Razaaq Adoti, Cavan Clerkin, David Kennedy, Johnny Harris, Anton Saunders

ED Andrew Hulme

PROD DES Richard Bridgland

MUSIC John Dankworth

AFI FEST: Vision Award in Cinematography, Karlovy Vary

Synopsis

A middle-aged crime boss smugly reflects back from 1999, narrating the brutality which made him triumphant – and feared. As an unnamed young hood in Swinging 60’s London, he aped his mod boss Freddie Mays, and seemed to do anything for him. But his narration exposes all-consuming envy: of Freddie’s supremacy, and especially his tall bird. The baby shark develops his viciousness and backstabbing, scheming to be Gangster No. 1. –IMDb

Director

Original

Paul McGuigan

A native of Scotland, Paul McGuigan was a successful photographer in Glasgow before branching out into television commercials and documentary films, including Football, Faith and Flutes, about religion and soccer in Glasgow; and Playing Nintendo With God, about children with AIDS. In 1998 he won the Best Newcomer Award from the Royal Television Society for his short film, The Granton Star Cause. He expanded this into a trilogy based on stories by Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh and released it as his first feature length film, The Acid House (1998). The movie won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Stockholm Film Festival, the AMC Audience Award and the Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver at Fantasporto and was named Best Film at the New York Underground Film Festival.

McGuigan next directed the controversial Gangster No. 1 (2000) starring Malcolm McDowell and Paul Bettany—which both dazzled and disturbed audiences with its darkly violent tale of a criminal in London. McGuigan’s… read more

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Displaying 4 of 9 wall posts.
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Knut Morte

3Dec11

This film was awful, I never want to see it again!

Yostarone

31Oct11

just great!

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Melanost

14Oct11

Best ever Gangster film. Period. Paul Bettany is sheer wonton evil and casting David Thewlis as a gangster boss (WTF??) actually works. Stackso violence ("pie and mash / scrape you off the wall" and all). An utter Gem.

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goeienag

5Oct11

This film-this gem- seemed to have been hiding in the very corners of the video rental. I just recently saw this and my god, it knocked at least 3/4 of my favorite gangster films out of the picture and won me over within minutes. Paul Bettany, my god...

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Nothing new

By Pierlui​gi Puccini on August 25, 2010

No matter how much I enjoy these performers, this genre, Malcolm McDowell’s deliciously sinister voice over, and the swingin’ sixties period where most of the story takes place, I just can’t hide the…  read review

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