The Long Good Friday – 1980 | 114mins | Drama, Thriller | Colour

Plot Synopsis

A violent gangland crime thriller set over the course of a Good Friday weekend, directed by John Mackenzie from a screenplay by Barrie Keeffe.

Bob Hoskins stars as the brutal gangland boss Harold Shand; the film follows Shand’s attempts to go respectable by interesting a band of American Mafia in a real estate deal in London’s Docklands. After returning to London from trip to America, Harold discovers that a rival gang seems to be destroying his empire, and that two of his henchmen have been murdered. Harold attempts to trace the identity of his men’s killers, but finds no reasoning behind the attacks on his organisation. The pressure on Harold is increased when his American visitors are subjected to a bomb attack – Charlie (Eddie Constantine) informs Harold’s girlfriend, Victoria (Helen Mirren), that he has 24 hours to find the culprits or the American’s will pull out of the deal.

Harold learns that while he was abroad his right-hand man Jeff (Derek Thompson), was involved in delivering money to the IRA in Belfast, and that some of the money was stolen. The IRA now seems to be retaliating against Harold’s men for the death of their members and theft of the money. Harold decides to seek revenge on the IRA by pretending to deliver more money, during the drop-off, Harold kills the terrorist commander and several of his men. Later, Harold and Victoria are then kidnapped at gunpoint by the IRA, and driven away by the terrorists to meet their fate.