Gangster No. 1

After his disappointing and disjointed portmanteau debut, The Acid House, Scottish director Paul McGuigan switched genres to the gangster flick with this incredibly violent and visually breathtaking deconstructivist film which follows a man simply credited as Gangster.  Beginning with a meeting of old thugs at a white collar boxing dinner, we see the older Gangster, played by Malcolm McDowell, having a great time until he hears that Freddie Mays is being released from prison that week.  Gangster's mood suddenly darkens and the film flashes back thirty years to when he was a promising hoodlum who Freddie took under his wing.
 
The young Gangster, played by Paul Bettany, shows himself to be a fearless and ruthless individual whose promise in the crime world is seen by Freddie who brings him into his inner circle and shows him the high life.  There is an obvious psycho-sexual attraction which Gangster has for Freddie and, when the crime boss meets Karen, a singer, in a nightclub, Gangster's piercing blue eyes take on a (metaphorical) green hue.
 
Though he continues to work for Freddie, Gangster becomes more ambitious and resentful of Freddie's relationship with Karen to the extent that he uncovers a plot on Freddie's life and does nothing about it other than show up and watch the hit in his rear view mirror.  Gangster then brutally murders one of Freddie's enemies, who was believed to be behind the assassination attempt, and leaves him to take the fall, resulting in Freddie being imprisoned for thirty years.
 

 
Over the next three decades, Gangster does everything that Freddie wouldn't, expanding into drugs and gambling and takes over Freddie's flat and criminal empire.
 
Gangster No. 1 is a visually arresting film, with McGuigan employing a flashback and flash forward structure, split screen and vibrant colours to make the film as visually interesting as possible and, by showing both the old and young Gangster in one shot via split screen, helps you to follow the idea of two actors playing the same character.
 
The film shows that screenwriter Johnny Ferguson knows his gangster films as Gangster No. 1 has everything that the typical genre film does but twists it so that Gangster doesn't want money and power for his own enrichment, merely because he wants what Freddie had - when he could buy any property in London, he moves into Freddie's flat.  It's basically a film about a thug who develops a crush on his boss and is gradually driven insane by jealousy and into a self-destructive pattern where he cares about nothing and nobody, venting his frustration in acts of extreme violence.
 

 
Paul McGuigan surrounded himself with a fine cast of accomplished and rising British actors from Malcolm McDowell to Paul Bettany, Eddie Marsan to David Thewliss and the class is evident.  Even Saffron Burrows, who wasn't a big name by any stretch of the imagination, is excellent in her role as Karen and they are all aged superbly by the makeup department.
 
Gangster No. 1 is one of the more impressive gangster films of the late 1990s and early 21st century, certainly a better film than any that Guy Ritchie contributed to the genre.
 

The Disc

 
Extra Features
The commentary by Paul McGuigan is duplicated from the original DVD release and is informative and well delivered, from the information about casting to the technical side of filming and even how the word C**T, which is used with incredible frequency, is not really offensive where he comes from as Scots tend to use it all the time and even in an affectionate way!
 
 The extra features are exactly the same as the DVD release with a decent featurette which complements the interviews with the cast and crew.  There are also a variety of trailers and TV spots. 
 

 
The Picture
This has been given a wonderful HD transfer with superb colours and black levels, the former are particularly evident in the violent murder scenes with vibrant red blood.  The detail and work that has gone into recreating the periods, from the '60s to the then present day is terrific with excellent costumes and set decoration - even the cars are right and really put you in the place without going too far and into nostalgia.
 
The makeup effects are equally impressive, ageing the characters very well, especially David Thewlis who begins as a dapper young man but ends as "just an old man in a crap suit", visibly older and broken.
 
*The pictures contained in this review are for illustrative purposes only and do not reflect the image quality of the disc.*
 
The Sound
The DTS-HD Master Audio is wonderfully mixed with clear dialogue and well used surrounds so the voices occasionally move around the room and the ambient effects add to the brutality of the violence.  The film is very well scored and the use of The Good Life and Blockbuster work really well in conveying both the period and the mood.
 
There is the option of watching this with sound only which helps you to really appreciate the score and sourced music.  For those who are Hard of Hearing or visually impaired, there are HoH subtitles and an audio descriptive track.
 

 
Final Thoughts
I was incredibly impressed when I saw this several years ago and the years have not changed my opinion.  McGuigan's direction and Johnny Ferguson's screenplay are as impressive now as they were then but the actors really show why they're so highly rated and, whilst Malcolm McDowell may appear in some utter dross such as Tank Girl, he is probably the greatest living British film actor and the rest of the cast aren't half bad either!
 
If you like gangster movies and haven't seen this then you really should do so.  But, if you already have watched it or own it on DVD, this is a disc that is worth serious consideration only for the superior AV quality as, apart from the better sound and picture, it's identical to the DVD. It's for fans only or those who don't already own the film on other formats.