Dom Hemingway (2013)

After being released from prison, Dom Hemingway tries to collect the debt he's owed because he did not talk to the police.

'Dom Hemingway' is a serious comedy with English gangsters. Violent as much makes sense, dramatic when Dom has to learn a lesson, and comical when Dom refuses the lesson. A little more tragic than expected in places, the film retains one's attention enough to create a satisfying experience.

Director:  Richard Shepard    

With: Jude Law, Richard E. Grant, Demián Bichir, Emilia Clarke

Rating: 7/10

Dalkomhan insaeng/ A Bittersweet Life (2005)

The right hand of a gangster begins to act freely and must face the consequences.

Purely lyrical, simple and enchanting, A Bittersweet Life tells a story exactly as the title says: sweet and bitter. In a very colorful setting: Korean mafia, Russian comedians, young love, old vanity, we meet Kim Sun-woo: right hand, faithful dog, recognized specialist, a character that delights us and leaves us constantly contradicted by his unique ability to be at the same time so good at being bad and so unskilled at being simple.

Director: Jee-woon Kim

Screenplay: Jee-woon Kim

Cu: Byung-hun Lee, Jeong-min Hwang, Yu-mi Jeong, Ku Jin

Rating: 9/10

This is a translation of an old post from 04/2013

Le Doulos (1962)

A professional thief organizes a robbery for which he is forced by circumstances to rely on the help of a so-called friend who gives him reason for suspicion.

A film noir by the book, made by the "father" of  French gangster films, namely Jean-Pierre Melville. The noir nuance is easy to observe, with the dubious characters that unravel on the screen and the beautiful "dolls" that know how to sound profound without saying much, but the story itself is complicated only for the sake of complication and is accompanied by an ending in which a character explains the twists like for primary school children. The characters who have any stains are punished and it feels like the intention was for the viewer to feel compassion for some of them, but that was done without providing a strong enough positive substrate that could help generate such compassion.

Directed by: Jean-Pierre Melville

With: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Michel Piccoli, Serge Reggiani, Jean Desailly

Rating: 7/10

The Irishman (2019)

The personal story of a so-called Mafia assassin, as told by the actual person to the author of the source book. 

Of big proportions, with multiple narrative threads intersected at different points in time, The Irishman is a mammoth of a movie that only Scorsese could control. It presents the story of a real person - as told in the winter of his life - just as such, without showing any resistance or doubts about its veridicity. In reality, there are doubts due to the content being a bit sensational, especially around the details about the links with Jimmy Hoffa and his disappearance. 

A great effort and a very interesting story that brings together big names, some even returned after retiring from acting (Joe Pesci) or some without even one line of dialogue (Harvey Keitel). This is the third time that the two "giants" - Robert De Niro and Al Pacino - meet in the same scenes (the first time they were in the same film, in The Godfather, they did not actually share scenes at all, Heat is a recognised masterpiece and Righteous Kill did not rise to expectations), this time successfully and showcasing a beautiful friendship that really makes sense. 

Soaked in a lot of history and facts that can actually be verified, the film presents the Italian-mafia character as perceived and understood by Scorsese and also as he demonstrated it in other of his great successes. Less noisy (perhaps due to the slightly more historical character), less dramatic, much more subtle, the film suffers from the lack of an interesting main character. Everything is interesting around it, and all the other very colourful and well-written characters seem to have a natural respect as if born out of merit, but it never becomes obvious to the viewer why that is. And Scorsese, I think, was just as perplexed as he actually attempted to get his characters to explain in their own words the effect of this man as an irrefutable fact that everyone is aware of. 

Joe Pesci is wonderful, strong and fragile at the same time, Al Pacino is as bombastic as usual and very believable, and Robert De Niro worked hard to seem so boring, docile, humble and violent. 

The 3 hours are perfectly excusable. 

Screenplay: Steven Zaillian, Charles Brandt (book) 

Directed by: Martin Scorsese 

Featuring: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, Bobby Carnavale, Ana Paquin

Peaky Blinders (2013-)

The story of a Birmingham gangster family, as led by Tommy Shelby who's guided by his ideal of turning the family's mini empire into a fully legal business.

We saw the Italian-American, Irish, Russian ones and it was time for the English gangsters to be represented. In an era parallel to that of Downton Abbey, their representatives are more stylish, more dual and more subtle. With five seasons so far, each counting 6 episodes representing a certain fragment of the family history, each with its own plot and unfolding, the series manages to maintain interest through the complete lack of monotony and the passionate and flawless interpretations of the main actors. The historical period's representation feels genuine, with all the expected embellishments, and we can forgive the writers for confusing the Rroma people language with Romanian for the first two seasons. Also worth mentioning is the soundtrack of mostly modern rock music, generally British (Radiohead appear very often), which makes an interesting contrast to the vintage vibe from the screen.

During all of the 5 seasons, one will notice some very well known faces in guest roles such as Sam Neill, Sam Claflin, Tom Hardy and even Adrien Brody, who give life to some very interesting and well written figures.

Creator: Steven Knight
Featuring: Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson, Helen McRory, Sophie Rundle, Annabelle Wallis, Natasha O'Keeffe, Joe Cole, Finn Cole, Ned Dennehy, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Tom Hardy, Sam Neill, Adrien Brody, Aidan Gillen, Sam Claflin

Peaky Blinders (2013-)

Istoria unei familii de gangsteri din Birmingham, asa cum a fost condusa in viziunea lui Tommy Shelby ghidat de idealul sau de a converti mini imperiul familiei in afaceri complet legale.

Am vazut italo-americani, irlandezi, rusi, a venit si vremea gangsterilor englezi sa fie reprezentati. Intr-o era paralela cu cea din Downton Abbey, reprezentantii acestora sunt mai stilati, mai duali si mai subtili. Cu cinci sezoane pana acum, fiecare a cate 6 episoade reprezentand un anume fragment din istoria familiei, fiecare cu propria intriga si desfasurare, reuseste sa mentina interesul prin lipsa de monotonie si interpretarile pasionale si fara pata ale actorilor principali. Reprezentarea perioadei istorice este veridica, cu toate infloririle de rigoare, si pot fi iertati ca in primele doua sezoane au confundat limba populatiei Rroma cu limba romana. Demna de mentionat este coloana sonora ce foloseste muzica rock moderna, in general britanica (Radiohead apar foarte des), si care face un contrast interesant cu impresia de clasic de pe ecran.
Pe parcursul celor 5 sezoane vor fi observate cateva fete foarte cunoscute in roluri temporare ca Sam Neill, Sam Claflin, Tom Hardy si chiar Adrien Brody, ce dau viata unor figuri foarte interesante si bine scrise.

Creator: Steven Knight
Cu: Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson, Helen McRory, Sophie Rundle, Annabelle Wallis, Natasha O'Keeffe, Joe Cole, Finn Cole, Ned Dennehy, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Tom Hardy, Sam Neill, Adrien Brody, Aidan Gillen, Sam Claflin

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