The Long Good Friday (1980)

To help me with this coursework I recently watched a British thiller called "The Long Good Friday" (1980), it was directed by John Mackenzie and written by Brian Keeffe. The film stars Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren and is about Harold Shand (Hoskins) who is an old fashioned London gangster who aspires to be a legitimate business man, but his world slowly starts to crumble in front of him after a series of murders and bombs as he tries to figure out who's after him on this long good friday.


The film begins with Colin (Paul Freeman) carrying a suitcase of money and taking some for himself before delivering it to another man, we then see that the same suitcase is brought to a house where three men check the proceed to check the contents of the bag and count the money. Meanwhile we also see Colin in the pub with two other men, but back at the house when the men begin to pack away the money they are surrond by a group of armed men, we then see that the two men with Colin are later attacked by another group of armed men.

The beginning of this film goes on for a little longer, but just from watching this small extract I have already been able to identify some conventions such as suspense and mystery. The film is also an antagonistic driven plot as we see Bob Hoskin's character trying to overcome a variety of obstacles. The opening sequence can be seen below.