How is crime portrayed in British Film?

Compare two popular British Films?

* Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels.

* Layer Cake.

* The Italian Job.



Are the representations of crime accurate in British Crime films?

I need to start by watching these films and analysing them.

I'm going to use references such as:

--- 'The British Crime And Cinema Book' by Robert Murphy.

--- http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/

--- http://www.bfi.org.uk/

--- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_film#Crime_plays_and_films

--- http://community.channel4.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/168607976/m/4670065433

I have also been keeping an eye on some film forums such as: Rotten Tomatoes, Channel 4 forums and the BFI forums.

From looking at wikipedia I found information on Crime in the Media and information in te different types of sub-genre that fall into this type of catagory such as: Organized crime (such as The Godfather and Scarface), Heist Films (such as: The Sting and Resevoir Dogs), Prison Films (such as: Shawshank Redemption and Escape to Alcatraz), True Crime Films (Such as: Goodfellas and Dig Day Afternoon), Crime Thrillers (such as: Seven and Running Scared), Crime comedies (such as: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Home Alone) and Legal Dramas (such as: 12 Angry Men and A Time to Kill).

The two films which I have decided to compare are The Italian Job and Layer Cake because they have a lot in common although Layer Cake was made thirty-five years after The Italian Job was first released.

The films which I am doing are a mixture of Organised Crime films and Crime Comedies. These films all have the following things in common: They both contain a British, male main character (Daniel Craig in Layer Cake, Michael Caine in The Italian Job)

From looking at forums etc, it seems that a ot of people have the opinion that these films glamourise crime, although The Italian Job contains minimal violence and is more of a family film and a comedy that other British Crime Films such as Snatch and Scum, which contain some very violent and disturbing scenes, and are not sutable for families.

I have found different articles by newspapers and the BBC, etc, which give an idea of how crime is portrayed in British Cinema and different reviews on the films which i will be analysing.

This is one of the articles, by the BBC which I found regarding Layer Cake:

Layer Cake (2004)
Reviewed by Nev Pierce
Updated 27 September 2004 Contains strong language, drug use, violence and sex

"I'm not a gangster," says Daniel Craig's dapper drug dealer at the beginning of Layer Cake. "I'm a businessman." And he's a successful one at that. With a million quid stashed ready for early retirement, he's scuppered when a menacing Mr Big (Kenneth Cranham) asks him to track down the smack-addicted daughter of a wealthy friend (Michael Gambon). Soon our anti-hero's 'one last job' threatens to do for him, in what amounts to Lock, Stock without the laughs.

Lock, Stock's producer, Matthew Vaughn, stepped up to direct this when Guy Ritchie got too busy with other projects and being Mr Madonna. But Vaughn's no slouch behind the camera and though Layer Cake lacks the charisma and wit of the pair's underrated Snatch, it's slickly shot and enjoyable, with one outstanding scene: the cafe-set revenge of an embittered ex-con. Filmed unflinchingly with you-are-there energy, it's powerful and cinematic. You know you're watching a movie, not some TV drama blown up for the big screen.

"HE'S JUST LIKE US"

Craig also comes into his own here, shocked and appalled by what he's witnessing but nevertheless grateful this brutal bloke is on his side. His character is a smug, moral, hypocrite, but the actor's skill is that we don't immediately twig this. He remains likeable, with an everyman quality emphasised by a voiceover-heavy script that makes his get-what-you-can mentality feel sadly familiar. He's just like us.

The screenplay could have done with being streamlined. Adapted by JJ Connolly from his own novel, it tries to cram in too much, with characters forever giving each other information as the action replays on screen. It feels like there are flashbacks within flashbacks and gets rather long-winded as the plot grows more convoluted. The theme recalls The Long Good Friday; the execution isn't as impressive. But the killer conclusion ensures Layer Cake still cuts it.



THE ITALIAN JOB


Let's get one thing straight. Peter Collinson's "The Italian Job" (1969) is not a great film - it's an average film with a great finale. Oh, and another thing: F Gary Gray's remake blows the bloody doors off it.

The action kicks off in spectacular style on the Venetian waterways, where John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) heads a motley crew of thieves (Jason Statham, Seth Green, Mos Def) in a bullion heist. Charlie Croker is the brains of the operation - but with Mark 'Blanky Blank' Wahlberg in the Michael Caine role, this requires unreserved suspension of disbelief.

The job comes off without a hitch until inside-man Steve (Edward Norton) gets greedy. He blows Bridger away, leaving the others for al fresco fish chow beneath an alpine lake.

Only one person is more narked than Croker and that's Bridger's daughter, safecracking specialist Stella (Charlize Theron). Still soggy, Croker and the lads return to LA where they enlist her services to take back the gold, and more importantly, stick it to Steve.

This revenge plot adds wallop lacking in the original, albeit occasionally destabilised by Mark Wahlberg's cosmic anti-presence.

Charlize Theron is left to drive the movie, taking the wheel with quiet confidence and steering it home. But it's Edward Norton who sparkles supreme, engaging with lazy insolence (perhaps a by-product of his being railroaded into the part by studio brass).

It's just a shame the flirty cat-and-mouse game between Stella and Steve heads up a cul-de-sac to give way for Croker. But despite this Wahlberg-shaped dent in the chassis, "The Italian Job" MkII never stalls.

The culminating 'big job', with a trio of Mini Coopers incongruously zipping through LA gridlock, has all the audacious mischief of its progenitor. The difference is you don't have to endure an hour of dull cockney banter to get there.

It's fair to say that, in managing to soup up Collinson's old banger, Gray has successfully pulled off the biggest job of all.

Critical Research