Frenzy Mackenzie

June 13, 2011 9:04 AM

RIP John Mackenzie, scottish director who was probably best known for the classic British gangster thriller The Long Good Friday. He also directed A Sense Of Freedom (The Jimmy Boyle Story) and Just A Boy's Game, The Elephant's Graveyard and Just Another Saturday among others for Play For Today.

The Long Good Friday - trailer, final scene

A Sense Of Freedom 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Just A Boys' Game 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

The Elephants Graveyard 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Just another Saturday 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (part 3 appears to be missing)

(Some NSFW)

posted by fearfulsymmetry (15 comments total)

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The Long Good Friday is about as good as gangster films get, though more than one viewing is probably required as it is a rather dense narrative.

Busy day ahead, so I'll give you all a few hours before I weigh in on what that ending means.
posted by philip-random at 9:08 AM on June 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

The Long Good Friday is a great film.
posted by dortmunder at 9:11 AM on June 13, 2011

Sorry to hear of his passing.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 9:45 AM on June 13, 2011

The Long Good Friday is streaming on Netflix if you've got an account. It's one of my favorites - I had the soundtrack as a ringtone at one point. :)
posted by temancl at 10:04 AM on June 13, 2011

PLEASE fo not watch the final scene of The Long Good Friday if you haven't seen the movie. It gives the whole damned thing away. Just correct your gross error in not having seen the movie.
posted by Decani at 10:06 AM on June 13, 2011

Do not. Not fo not. Gawd.
posted by Decani at 10:07 AM on June 13, 2011

While I'm not going to link to copyrighted material that is available online, I will mention that it is possible to watch the whole of The Long Good Friday on youtube.

One of the best gangster movies I've ever seen.

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posted by Hactar at 10:09 AM on June 13, 2011

Sense of Freedom is terrific and had a big impact on my growing up. "You mean criminals aren't all unredeemable monsters? My parent's Daily Mail has been lying to me?"

Also worth watching is Unman, Wittering and Zigo if you can track it down (not to be confused, as I did once, with P'Tang Yang Kipperbang which is whole different thing)
posted by ntrifle at 10:50 AM on June 13, 2011

In my opinion, The Long Good Friday is the best gangster movie ever. Period. Bob Hoskins is the ultimate in lower class menace dressed up in expensive suits while Helen Mirren is simply way too hot. And Pierce Brosnan makes the best debut ever for an actor. And an appropriate one as well. If you are a fan of second rate Tarentino ripoff shit like Guy Ritchie was putting out for a while, you probably won't like this. But any true fan of gangster flicks MUST see this movie as well as the original Get Carter. ( with a young and quite menacing Micheal Cain). To be quite honest, if you can deal with the glacial pacing and the washed out look of a lot of them, British gangster flicks stand out as some of the best. For some reason the Brits have the reputation of being polite and harmless. But beneath the manners and repression there is, culturally speaking, a streak of cruelty that rivals anything found elsewhere in the world regarding creative and painful ways to do harm to their fellow man. After all. One can't dominate half of the worlds population as the Brits once did if one were squeamish about wading in the blood of one's enemies as well as any that of any unlucky bystander. And there is quite the large underclass of Brits who don't even feel the need for the Prince Charles polish and manners while applying a broken bottle to someones face during a disagreement over football. And any gangster bad enough to scare your average Brit.....well, let's just say it would probably make for a good movie.
posted by jake1 at 10:50 AM on June 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

Seconding everyone on The Long Good Friday. Terrific film. Sad to hear of John MacKenzie's passing.
posted by carter at 11:42 AM on June 13, 2011

Just a Boy's Game is also entirely ace, though probably not very aligned with the image that Scotland wants for itself now.
posted by scruss at 12:13 PM on June 13, 2011

Yes I came in here to recommend the watching of "Just a Boy's Game." It's a wonderful film, featuring Frankie Miller in the lead role.
posted by fire&wings at 1:25 PM on June 13, 2011

jake1 nails it, along with Get Carter, The Long Good Friday is as good a British gangster film ever made and is infinitely more brutal than modern films with ten times the body count.
posted by joannemullen at 7:39 PM on June 13, 2011

How odd. I was thinking about "Just A Boy's game" this very morning.

"You don't go back". What a line.
posted by devious truculent and unreliable at 4:21 AM on June 14, 2011

I found Just A Boy's Game on youtube fairly recently, remembering watching it on tv when I was a kid... that last line has always stayed with me.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:59 AM on June 14, 2011