The Firm [DVD]

No other director has captured male aggression on film with the keen eye of Alan Clarke. Clarke's specialties are anger and violence, and he captures them with a brutal precision that belies the inherent messiness of the action. Along with Scum and Made in Britain, The Firm cements Clarke’s reputation as a gritty realist director. It was his final film before his death from cancer in 1990. Special features: Intro to the film by David Leland Documentary on the life work of the director, Alan Clarke Timewatch: Documentary exploring the roots of football hooliganism The Late Show: Panel discussion and critical reaction to the film Audio commentary with Phil Davis and Lesley Manville. In The Firm, Clarke takes on football hooliganism and the mercenary ideals of Thatcher's England. Bex, played with virtuosic blend of ferocity and charm by Gary Oldman, is not the stereotypical skinhead thug, but, essentially, a yuppie. Clarke cannily introduces Bex as a family man who clearly loves his wife, Sue (Lesley Manville), and their young son. Initially, it seems that Bex is far more rational than his mates, as he resists their exhortations to seek immediate violent retribution when his car is vandalized. Clarke and Oldman, working from a script by Al Ashton (EastEnders), gradually reveal the depths of Bex's depravity. In the world of The Firm, football and provincialism are merely excuses for preternaturally angry men to unleash terrorism upon each other. With his marriage on the verge of collapse, Bex is unable to relinquish his position as "top boy" of his crew. "I need the buzz," he moans, pleading with Sue to understand his unquenchable appetite for destruction. Clarke, who was actually a football fan, and Ashton reveal an ugly side of spectatorship, as certain fans see their own noxious behavior as more important than the sport they claim to love. While its critique of the Thatcher era is a bit oblique, the film is trenchant in its treatment of masculine identity tied to aggression. The level of barbarity the film reaches may strain credulity a bit, but Clarke pulls it together with a bitterly ironic, "triumphant" ending. Cast: Gary Oldman (Bex Bissell), Lesley Manville (Sue), Philip Davis (Yeti), Andrew Wilde (Oboe), Charles Lawson (Trigg), William Vanderpuye (Aitch) Short Description: Controversial 1988 Alan Clarke film about football thugs, starring Gary Oldman. Bex, a seemingly respectable estate agent, is also a football hooligan and general of a notorious gang of thugs. Determined to lead a national "firm" into Europe, Bex brings together rival gangs. But in taking on Yeti, he gets more than he bargained for. Includes some superb extra features.